The Failed Project
by newsiesgirllaces
Summary: The mission was to find the new weapon, Project Power, and destroy it. None of them expected to find a little girl instead.
1. Chapter 1

**Sorry i was away for forever. i got busy with school and tests and blaahhhh. In my spare time i've been writing random stuff in my notebook and i just typed some of it up. I dunno if this is any good or not, but i'd figure i'd put it up :)**

**Please enjoy and tell me what you think. i like constructive criticism. :D**

**L.L.A.P**

**~Laces**

Chpt.1

She sat staring at the basketball that was in the center in the room. Her eyes started to hurt from staring at it for so long, but she didn't want to blink.

"Please move. Please." She whispered but nothing happened. "I know you can move. Please let me move you. There has to be something I can do." She whispered hopelessly.

There was a click, and the door to her room opened, and the girl slowly turned around to see Dr. Milo and two Cadmus guards.

"Good morning Project Power." He nodded, and she flinched at the name. the little girl never wanted to be only known as a project, but that was the only name she had.

"Good morning Dr. Milo." She nodded, and slowly stood, and looked away from the basketball. She looked down at her feet, strands of curly black hair falling over her blue eye, but her green eye was still visible.

"You know what today is, don't you?" Milo inquired, and the girl nodded sadly. She couldn't hold back her tears, and she started to cry softly.

"Don't cry." Milo stated sharply, and the girl tried her best to recompose herself.

"I-It's just… I don't wanna…"

"If I had more funding, then I'd keep you." Milo sighed. "But majority of Cadmus thinks you're a lost cause. You are a _failed_ project. And you know what happens to failed projects."

"They… they get incinerated." The girl nodded, trying to wipe her tears away.

Dr. Milo placed a hand on the girl's shoulder gently.

"Don't worry. We will make it as quick and painless as possible." He gave her a small smile, and the girl smiled slightly back. That was one of the nicest things had ever told the girl in her life.

"Dr. Milo?"

"Yes?"

"Can I bring Ralph with me to the incinerator room? So we can be together one last time?" she questioned with hope, and the man nodded.

The little girl ran over to her bed and pulled out a rundown teddy bear.

One of the guards gave it to her when she was a toddler.

Milo held out his hand, and the little girl took it, following him to the incinerator room.

She didn't want to die. She was only seven and she hadn't even seen the world yet.

The man walked her into a cold white room.

"You can either sit or stand. It's up to you." Milo informed and the girl nodded.

"Good bye, Milo." She whispered as he left the room. The door shut behind him and she sat, hugging Ralph tightly.

_I wish they let me see the sun._ she thought sadly, and she heard the machine start to hum.

The girl shook and cried, hugging Ralph as tight as she could, waiting for her impending doom. However, everything sound like it shut down, and all the lights blacked out.

She was left in complete darkness.

Nightwing along with a small team snuck into the facility after shutting down the power.

"So what exactly are we looking for?" Robin questioned in a whisper.

"Project Power." Nightwing answered.

"Which is what, exactly?" Superboy inquired.

"According to our sources, a weapon. A really powerful weapon. We're supposed to find it, and destroy it." Nightwing explained.

They came across a scientist working in the dark on a control panel of some sort, trying to bring it back online.

"Where is project power?" Nightwing questioned, grabbing the man's lab coat as Tim took down the security who thought they'd be able to take them.

The scientists pointed a shaking finger towards the door in the room the control panel looked attached to.

"Superboy…" Nightwing started, but the clone was already in front of the door, tearing the metal to the side with ease, and walking inside.

Once his eyes adjusted to the darkness, his eyes widened.

In the middle of the room sat a small girl. From what Superboy could tell, she looked to be between the ages of six and ten. He quickly turned on a small light he had on his belt.

The girl had curly raven black hair. Her eyes were two different colors. Her right was green while her left was blue. Her skin was a darker shade, and her features looked like a mix of different races. She wore a white one pie suit and in her hands was a beaten up teddy bear.

"A-am I dead? Are you an angel?"

Superboy was speechless.

"Are you here to take me to Heaven or Hell? I… I'd like to think that I'd go to Heaven." She frowned slightly. "But I failed. I'm going to Hell, aren't I?" there was fear in the girl's voice, and Superboy snapped out of his stare.

"No, you're not dead." He stated.

"I… I'm not? But… Dr. Milo said I was going to die today. I didn't do anything useful, so I was going to be incinerated." She explained in a small voice, and Superboy's eyebrows furrowed.

"You're not going to die today." he stated and gently lifted the girl up.

She held onto her teddy bear tightly, but rested her head on his chest.

"Ralph, I'm not going to die today." She informed in a hushed whisper to her bear. "Maybe we can still see the sun someday."

"Superboy, who's the girl?" Nightwing questioned, still holding the scientist.

"She was in the room where Project Powers was supposed to be." Superboy informed.

"The incinerator room?" Robin questioned, looking at the scientist with anger.

"She's a _failed_ experiment. Nothing is illegal about killing what we create." The scientist informed matter-of-factly.

"Experiment?" Nightwing questioned.

"She is project powers." The scientist stated calmly.

"Project Powers is a weapon." Robin pointed out, but the man shook his head.

"She _is_ a weapon. Or at least she was supposed to be. However, she has failed."

"I'm sorry, Dr. Milo." The girl whispered with guilt. "I tried…"

"But you still _failed_." He growled, glaring at the girl, then looked back up at Nightwing.

"She is a nobody, and is worthless. Let me destroy her. Isn't that what this is all about? To destroy Project Powers?" Milo questioned.

Superboy's grip tightened slightly on the girl.

"_No_."

"Project Powers will be under the control of the Justice League from here on out. U don't like it, have your boss talk to ours." Nightwing stated, shoving the man to the ground. The three heroes quickly made their way out of the building, back to a jet compliments of Batman.

"So we're just taking her?" Robin questioned.

"I'll inform Batman that Project Powers is not a thing, but a little girl. The league will know what to do with her." Nightwing explained.

"So… I'm really not going to die today?" the girl questioned in a low voice, but it was full of hope.

"You are _not_ dying today." Nightwing smiled, and the girl hugged her teddy bear tightly.

"Thank you." She whispered small tears streaking her face as she hugged the bear even tighter.

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

The team got outside, and the girl looked up at the sky.

"Wow." She whispered. "It's so big… and the stars… and… it's beautiful."

"You'll see the sky again." Superboy informed softly as the entered the jet, and she smiled happily.

"I can't wait."


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the positive review guys! :) If you think i can do better on something, please tell me, i love constructive criticism! :)**

**L.L.A.P**

**~Laces**

Chpt.2

"That's supposed to be a weapon of mass destruction." Beast Boy questioned, looking at the girl in Superboy's arms curiously. The girl fell asleep in the jet, her arms still clutching her teddy bear tightly.

"She's so cute!" Wonder Girl cooed, but Nightwing was quickly back into the rooom.

"I called Batman." He informed seriously. "He should be here in about fifteen minutes." Nightwing's attention then went to the girl. "We should probably wake her up. Batman's going to have questions."

Superboy nodded, and shook the girl slightly.

"Kid? Kid, wake up." He said softly, and she slowly batted her eyes open.

"It wasn't a dream?" she whispered, but then smiled. "I wasn't dreaming." She sighed with relief. Superboy gently placed the girl on the ground, and she looked around.

They were in Mt. Justice in the debriefing room, and the girl's eyes wandered to the walls, examining the rock of the mountain, and then looked at each person in the room, who were staring intently at her.

"Why's… everyone staring at me?" she questioned in a small voice. The room was silent for a moment, nobody knowing exactly what to say.

"Is it true Cadmus made you?" Beast Boy questioned, breaking the silence.

"Gar!" Wonder Girl glared at the boy, hitting him upside the head.

"What? It was just a question." He said innocently.

"I don't understand why it might be offensive." The girl informed calmly. "And, yes. Cadmus did… make me. They told me that I was… going to be the perfect weapon. But I… failed." She looked down at her feet.

"What's your name?" Wonder Girl inquired, kneeling in front of the girl.

"I don't like it!" The girl exclaimed quickly. Everyone stared at her, shocked by her random outburst. "I never… liked it." She said in a hushed tone. "I mean… it was always been Project Power. I never had any… nick names or anything. Just… Project Power." The girl had a pensive look for a moment, but then brightened slightly.

"But this is Ralph." She informed with a smile, holding the bear up. She looked almost proud of the thing. "I named him myself after Mr. Ralph gave him to me."

"Who was Mr. Ralph?" Superboy questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"He was a guard at Cadmus." The girl's eyes seemed to haze out, thinking about the man. "He talked to me a lot and would sometimes… sneak in books for me to read. He taught me how to read too, he used to laugh because I caught on quickly… I always catch onto things quickly… He was really nice, but shortly after he gave me Ralph, he was… fired. I guess it was because they didn't want me to be… distracted." She said sadly, but tried to brighten again. "What are your names?"

Before anyone could answer, an automatic voice rang out in Mt. Justice, announcing Batman's presence, and he was quickly in the room.

"Is this Project Power?" he questioned, looking down at the girl, who was looking back at him curiously, and Nightwing nodded.

"Yes."

"Who are you?" the girl inquired, tilting her head to the side like a confused puppy.

"My name is Batman, project power." The girl winced slightly at her name, but then her eyes widened at what the man had called himself.

"Batman? You're Batman?" she questioned with some excitement.

"Yes." He nodded, and she ran to him and was hugging his leg tightly, and the team looked at her confused.

"You're one of my Dad's!" she said happily. Everyone but Batman looked surprised.

"Project Power, what do you mean by that?" Batman questioned, and the girl released his leg and looked up at him.

"Well, Cadmus said that I was made from several… DNA strands. Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, and Black Canary." She explained. "Apparently I was supposed to have… brothers and… sisters too, but I was the only one who lived. Apparently DNA strands are hard to… keep together… or stable… or something like that." She looked like she was done talking, but was quick to open her mouth again.

"No Ralph, he didn't ask." She muttered, looking at the bear. There seemed to be some fear in her voice.

"Ask what?" Batman inquired, kneeling down to her level. His eyes locked onto hers and she looked away from him, shaking from the eye contact slightly.

"Ralph wants me to talk about the… tests Cadmus ran on me, but I don't want to. Ralph thinks it will help, but it won't." she looked down at the bear again. "It won't, Ralph. It won't help. Talking never helps. Never. No matter what I say can't help me. no matter what I say won't change my failure."

Batman placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We'll move into the discussion room, and you can talk about what they did to you, at your own pace. Ralph is right. It will help if you tell me what they did to you." He informed softly, and the girl slowly nodded her head.

"O-okay." Batman turned to show her to the room, but held out his hand for her to grasp. She quickly grabbed it, and followed him into the discussion room.

Wonder Girl looked over at Nightwing.

"Is it just me, or did she sound a little… I dunno, off?" she questioned once she was sure Batman and the girl were out of ear shot. Nightwing sighed.

"She's been treated as a weapon since birth, and I can't imagine anything Cadmus doing to her being very pleasant. Going through that might make her a bit _off_." He explained.

"So, is she, y'know, dangerous?" Beast Boy inquired, and Nightwing shook his head.

"I've dealt with dangerous insane people before. She doesn't seem the type. The fact that she talks to the bear might just prove that she is so lonely, she feels like that bear is just another person. The only person who had actually been there through everything with her. Someone she could talk to, because she had no one else." Dick frowned the more he thought about it.

"I can't imagine what that must've been like." Beast Boy whispered. "What type of tests do you think Cadmus ran on her?"

Superboy tensed up, but his eyes were where Batman and the girl had left.

"Your eavesdropping, aren't you?" Nightwing questioned, and Superboy nodded mutely, still looking off where they had left, listening to what the girl was telling Batman.

He then looked away.

"I can't listen to that anymore." Superboy stated as he ran a hand through his hair.

"What has she gone through?" Nightwing questioned. Superboy quickly turned to Beast Boy.

"Gar, you should go to bed."

"Awww, but…"

"_Now_, Gar." Superboy stated firmly, and the boy sighed, but left, heading off to his room. Once he was gone, and out of ear-shot, Superboy looked at Nightwing, and Wonder Girl.

"It sounds like torture. Some of things they made her do." He said in a hushed voice. "She said that to see if she could breathe underwater like Aquaman, they'd throw her in the water, and not let her resurface until she either succeeded, or passed out. She said that she never learned to breath, let alone swim, under water."

Wonder Girl's eyes widened, and Dick's mouth gaped slightly in shock.

"Cadmus shouldn't be able to do that. Sure they created her, but… I mean…" Wonder Girl didn't know what else to say.

"It's wrong." Dick nodded. "We were lucky to get her out when we did. Conner, what else did they do to her?"

"To try to trigger Martian Manhunter's telepathic ability… they stuck needles in her head, trying to trigger something, but they never succeed. They would shoot her arm to see if she was impervious, and that's when I stopped listening."

Before anyone could say anything else, Batman walked back into the room with the girl grasping his hand.

"Superboy, take her to the guest room, and lend her some of your cloths. She'll be staying with us for a while." Batman stated, and Superboy nodded, extending his hand for the girl to take, which she quickly did, and he led the girl to the room.

"What are you going to do?" Nightwing questioned, looking at Batman with a raised eyebrow. This mission had a result that was much different compared to others.

"I took some blood samples to verify what she is telling us, but if there is any truth to it, the Justice League will determine what to do, and we will try to bring Cadmus_down_." he stated firmly, and Nightwing nodded.

"How intact is her sanity?" he questioned in a whisper, and Batman gave him a serious look.

"It's difficult to say."


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry not a lot happens in this chapter. Please enjoy and tell me what you think :)**

** .P**

**~Laces**

Chpt.3

Superboy wished he had some smaller cloths. All he had for the girl was an old T-shirt that shrunk in the wash and some mesh shorts.

He handed them to the girl and showed her to the guest room.

"Does this go on my… head?" she inquired, looking at the mesh shorts, and then at Superboy.

"Uh, no. They're pants. They go on your legs and butt." He informed, then pointed to his pants. "Like these."

"Ohhh." The girl nodded, then held up the shirt. "So, this goes on my… torso… right?" Superboy wanted to smile, but he couldn't help but think about what the girl had said about her treatment at Cadmus earlier. She probably always wore that zipper up one piece suit every day of her life.

"Yes, that goes over your torso." He confirmed. "I'm going to leave so you can change in privacy, but I'll be right outside the door, so tell me when you are done getting changed, okay?" he questioned, and the girl smiled.

"Okay."

Conner waited outside of the girl's door patiently, until he heard a small voice question,

"Is this right?"

Conner opened the door, and saw the girl had on the shorts at her ankles and had on the large shirt backwards. The shirt was so large on her it stopped about an inch past her knees.

"A little bit." Conner chuckled as he walked up to the girl and knelt in front of her. He pulled the pants up to her hips and tied the drawl string tighter so that they would stay up.

"Here, put your arms back in through the sleeves." He informed and she followed his direction. Once her arms were out of the sleeves, Superboy turned the shirt around so that it was facing the right way.

"Alright, you can put your hands back through the sleeves now." He informed with a small smile, and she did so. "There. You look great." He informed, and the girl looked at herself in the mirror.

Superboy's eyes widened when he noticed al the scaring the girl had, since the suit covered all of her skin except her face. Scars ran up her arms, and what he could see of her legs. It made him want to go to Cadmus and kill them all.

"This outfit is much more… comfortable than my suit." She informed, and Superboy snapped out of his thoughts, and picked up the suit, looking at it curiously.

The material was tight, and sturdy. It didn't look very breathable, and Superboy could also make out some blood stains.

"You don't need to wear anything like this suit anymore." Superboy informed, and the girl smiled.

"Thank you." She then looked at the boy curiously. "Why are you so… nice?" Superboy didn't know how to answer the question.

"I guess that's just who I am." He shrugged, and the girl nodded.

"What's your name? I hear people say it… but I find it… strange. Superboy, right? Is that a nick name?"

"Somewhat of a nick name." he shrugged. "It's like a job I have when I work. However, when I'm not working, people call me Conner." He explained.

"Are you working now?" the little girl inquired.

"No." Conner answered with a short shrug, and the girl smiled.

"Then thank you for everything, Conner." She said, and was quickly hugging his leg.

"No problem, kid." He said in a small voice as he patted her back. Once the girl parted from his leg, he looked over at the clock in her room. It was way past midnight.

"You should go to bed. It's late." He stated as he lifted the girl up and placed her in the bed, tucking her in underneath the covers.

"Hey Conner?" she inquired while in the middle of a yawn.

"Yeah?"

"Since you have two… names… do you think I could too… like… you're Superboy and Conner… do you think I could be Project Power and… something else?" she questioned. Conner smiled at her.

"I'm sure of it. But remember that a name doesn't make who you are. _You_ decide that." He informed, and the girl nodded, and rested her head on the pillow.

"Good night, kid."

"Good night Conner." She whispered, and her eyes were closed as she drifted to sleep quickly.

Conner closed the door softly, not wanting to make any sound, but when he turned around, he was startled to see Nightwing right there.

"How is she?" he inquired.

"She's alright. Sleeping right now, actually." Conner nodded, looking back at the door, and listening to the sleeping breath, and steady heartbeat of the girl, making sure she was still okay.

"Is that her suit?" Nightwing inquired, looking at the fabric in Conner's hands, and the clone nodded, handing it to him.

"Yeah. Doesn't look comfortable, not to mention that it has blood stains on it." He informed, and Nightwing sighed, spotting a blood stain.

"I knew Cadmus was bad, but this… I just find it impossible how people could just be okay with practically torturing a little girl. It's just messed up." The first Robin stated with a hint of frustration in his voice, but he took in a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

"Anyway, I wanted to tell you that Batman got the results of the blood test back, and what she said was true. She really is biologically the daughter of several major league members." Nightwing explained. Conner raised an eyebrow.

"What's Batman going to do now?"

"I think he might try to take legal action against Cadmus, but as for the girl, the league wants to see her and figure out exactly what to do with her. The league's been busy lately, however, Wonder Woman and Black Canary will be coming over tomorrow to talk to her." Nightwing explained.

"Alright, but afterwards, I want to take her outside. It's supposed to be nice out, and she's never seen the sun before." Conner informed, glancing back to the door of the girl's room. He thought he heard something.

"Alright, but keep an eye on her. We don't know if her mental state is all that good. I mean, going through what she has must of messed her up, but we don't know how far to an extent."

Conner raised an eyebrow.

"So, you're saying you think she's crazy." Nightwing sighed, running his hands through his hair.

"she might be. I just want you to make sure you keep an eye on her. Despite her failed project label she is still considered a weapon of mass destruction, and a mentally unstable weapon of mass destruction isn't necessarily a good thing." Nightwing informed, and Conner glared at him.

"She's _not_ just a weapon." Conner stated firmly, and Nightwing quickly placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Settle down, Conner. I know she's not, but I still can't take things lightly due to the situation. I just want you to keep an eye on her when she's outside. That's it, and besides, if someone from Cadmus tries to take her, you'll be right there." Nightwing smiled, and Conner nodded.

"Alright, I'll stay close to here while we're out." Conner nodded. Nightwing grinned.

"Okay Conner, see you tomorrow." He gave a short wave, and was gone.

Conner looked back toward the door, and instead of a steady breath and heartbeat, both were erratic.

He swiftly opened the door and peered in, seeing the young girl curled up in a ball, holding her bear tightly. There were tears streaking her face.

"I can't." she whispered. "I'm sorry." She shuttered and then said louder, "I can't." she contorted her face into a pained expression. "I can't. I can't. I can't. I can't. I can't."

Conner sat next to her on the side of her bed, and laid a hand gently on her head, lightly stroking her hair, trying to calm her down.

"I can't!" she exclaimed, waking herself up.

She was breathing heavily, and she looked around the room speechless.

"You okay?" Conner questioned gently, when her eyes wandered to his. She shook and hugged his torso quickly, crying into his shirt.

"Shhh… you're okay." He whispered. "You're safe."

"I can't." she said through a heavy sob. "I failed."

"You didn't fail." Conner whispered, patting her back. "There's nothing wrong with you." He listened as she continued to cry, until she finally looked up at him.

"Can you… stay? You don't have to… if you want… but… I don't want to be… alone." She explained, tears continuing to streak her face. "I know that sounds… selfish… but…"

"I'll stay here." He said quickly, and the girl looked up at him. There was hope in her eyes, but also doubt. She didn't want to get lied to.

"Really?" she questioned timidly.

Conner propped his feet up on the bed, and then smiled at her.

"Yup." He helped re-tuck her into bed, and then laid next to her, comfortably. She was asleep in less than a minute.

Conner couldn't help but feel like he needed to be there for the girl. She was a lab experiment like him and also shared some of Superman's DNA. In a weird way, that made her his sister, or something like that. She was _family_ and Conner knew what it felt like to be shunned by someone who you considered family.

So he was determined to make the little girl happy, and keep her safe.

"Conner?" he looked over to see that she was awake again.

"Yeah, kid?" he questioned, hoping that the girl would be able to go back to sleep soon.

"Are you… related to Superman?" she inquired, and he shrugged.

"A bit, but I have a question for you." He stated, looking at the girl, and she looked back at him, cocking her head to the side.

"Why do you pause like you're thinking between some words? You don't need to worry about what you say around here." Conner explained, and the girl shook her head.

"I pause because I am… searching for words. The first scientists who helped with my… development talked Japanese. Then there was a German scientist, then Milo. English is a… difficult language. I am much better at… understanding languages more so than speaking them."

"So you have difficulty with the English language?" Conner questioned, and the girl nodded.

"Yes. So many rules… I mean… there are so many rules. Grammar is also… difficult."

Conner smiled a bit and gave her a small hug.

"It'll be alright. Some of the league know tons of languages. If you ever don't know a word, you can speak to them and I'm sure one of them will know what you're saying." He informed and the girl grinned at the thought.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"No problem kid. Now, we better go to bed. It's going to be a long day tomorrow." Conner said, but the girl was asleep before he was half way done his sentence.

He looked at the girl with some concern. Could she really be _that _crazy?


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the later update. I have finals coming up soon :(**

**Please enjoy and tell me what you think :)**

**L.L.A.P**

**~Laces**

Chpt.4

Conner woke up and was slightly confused why he wasn't in his room, but then remembered the events of the night before.

"Hey, Kid…" Conner tried to nudge her awake. "Kid?"

"Hmmm? Conner?" she questioned in a quiet mumble.

"Good morning." He smiled, then got to his feet. "You should get up. M'gann should be making breakfast about now." He informed, looking over at the clock. It was about 9:30.

"Who is M'gann?" the girl inquired as she scooted off the bed.

"She's a member of the team." Conner informed shortly. He didn't enjoy talking about his ex-girlfriend too much.

Conner smoothed out his hair, then walked downstairs, the girl following close behind.

Once they reached the kitchen, Conner laid his eyes on Gar, M'gann, and La'gaan. Gar was eating the pancakes that M'gann had made, reading a book while M'gann and La'gaan were… kissing. Conner hated it when they would kiss in public, especially with him in the room.

He was happy that he wasn't the one who interrupted them.

"Is that… painful?" the girl inquired, looking at them with an expression of concern and curiosity.

"Who are you?" La'gaan questioned, and M'gann placed a gentle hand on her boyfriend, knowing he was slightly upset for the girl assuming he was causing his "angel fish" pain.

"You're Project Power, aren't you? Dick told me what happened last night." She informed gently, and Gar looked up from his book.

"Good morning." He smiled with a small wave.

"Good morning to you well." She paused. "As well." The girl corrected herself, but quickly turned her attention back to M'gann and La'gaan.

"So it wasn't painful? You were… biting her lip." She stated with confusion, looking at La'gaan.

"We were kissing, Project Power." M'gann explained gently, and the girl winced.

"Hey sis." Gar stated from the seat. "Ex nay on the ojectpray owerpay." He said in pig-Latin, only earning a confused look.

"She doesn't like the name." Conner spoke up. M'gann frowned,

"I'm sorry, I didn't know…"

"It's alright. I… simply don't want to be known as a project." She informed with a shrug, then said lightly, "You're skin is very pretty. It's my… favorite color."

M'gann smiled kindly at the girl.

"Would you like some pancakes?" she inquired, grabbing a plate for the girl.

"I never had pancakes before." M'gann quickly placed the pancakes on the plate.

"You should love them." She grinned as she started to cut the food while using her telekinesis to pour syrup simultaneously.

The girl's eyes fixated on the floating food.

"How… can you do that?" she questioned, tilting her head to the side, and M'gann shrugged as she handed the plate over to the girl.

"I don't know. I have always been able to do it." M'gann informed, and the raven-haired girl nodded with a pensive look on her face, but then brightened again.

"Thank you for the food." She said with a smile, then sat down at the table across from Gar.

The boy watched as she practically inhaled the food after the first bite. He wasn't the only one who watched. Everyone in the room watched as she ate like she was starving. She quickly was finished and gulped down her milk.

"That was the most best food I ever taste!" she exclaimed with excitement, smiling ear to ear. However, her smile vanished when she noticed everyone staring at her. "I mean…" she thought over her sentence. "That was the… best food… I have ever… tasted." She smiled sheepishly at the group. "Thank you." She added quietly.

"I'm glad you liked it." M'gann smiled. "You should get dressed. Black Canary and Wonder Woman should be arriving anytime now." M'gann handed the girl a box from the kitchen counter.

"Nightwing dropped it off for you." La'gaan informed the girl, and she looked inside.

"What is it?" the girl inquired, looking at the blue piece of fabric curiously.

"It's a dress, kid." Conner informed, and this seemed to confuse the girl even more.

"I thought dresses… were worn for… fancy parties. At least that's what I… read about them." She said, still looking at the dress.

"Not all dresses are for fancy occasions." M'gann informed. "This is a sun dress. It's just a casual thing to wear." She explained.

"Oh." The girl nodded, then looked at M'gann. "How do you… put it on?"

"By Neptune's beard, shouldn't it be obvious?" La'gaan questioned in an aggravated voice, and the girl looked down at her feet, ashamed.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, but M'gann placed a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder.

"It's alright. Here, I'll show you how." M'gann shot a look at La'gaan, then led the girl up to her room.

Conner couldn't hide the small grin on his face when La'gaan walked out of the room, and flopped onto the couch.

Conner didn't like La'gaan all that much, so seeing M'gann give him a reprimanding look made him want to laugh.

The computer voice sounded, alerting the presence of Black Canary and Wonder Woman. Conner quickly made his way to great him, but suddenly found himself nervous for the girl. What if they didn't like that she had some of their DNA? What if their reactions were similar to Superman's?

"Hello Conner." Black Canary smiled, snapping the clone out of his thoughts.

"Hello. The girl will be down soon. M'gann is just helping her out with something." Conner informed, and both women nodded.

"Is there anything we should know before talking to her?" Wonder Woman inquired. Conner paused a moment to think.

"She doesn't like to be referred to as Project Power because she doesn't want to be known as a project. I've just been calling her kid. And she's still getting used to the English language, so she pauses a lot when talking to make sure she's saying her words right."

"Thank you, Conner." Black Canary said with a small smile, but then looked over at the sound of small footsteps.

The small girl walked into the room wearing the blue dress. The dress was either slightly too long or slightly too short due to the face that it stopped at her ankles, and her feet were bare.

"M'gann said that I would… find everyone here." She informed as she slowly walked up to Conner and the two women.

"Conner, can you let us gals have some privacy?" Black Canary questioned, and the clone nodded.

"I'll see you later, kid." He said, giving the girl an encouraging smile.

The girl looked up at the tall woman.

"Hello." She said sheepishly.

"Hello young one." Wonder Woman informed. There was a pause between the three. Wonder Woman and Black Canary had come to talk to the girl, because, to be technical, they were her mother. But neither exactly knew what to talk about.

"I have your eye shape." The little girl said quietly, looking at Black Canary. The woman looked at the girl and nodded. She did.

"And I have your hair color." She said, looking at Wonder Woman.

"That you do, little one." the woman smiled, and got down on one knee to look at the girl. "Aphrodite granted you beauty." The girl cocked her head to the side.

"Who is Aphrodite?"

"The Goddess of love, and beauty." Wonder Woman informed, and the girl started to smile, but then frowned.

"I have to… apologize to Aph-ro-dite then." She sighed, slowing down to make sure to pronounce the Goddess' name correctly. "If she… gave me beauty, then I have… ruined it." She looked down at her scars sadly.

"Dr. Milo said that if I didn't… cooperate, he'd keep giving me scars. He said scars make people… hideous. He said that… I'd have so many scars I'd be the… most hideous girl on the planet." She informed.

"Scars don't make you ugly." Black Canary stated firmly, rolling up her sleeve showing the girl her own scars. "Scars are trophies. They show what you have gone through and are proof that you could take what was dealt to you."

"I never... thought of it like that." The girl mumbled, but then brightened. "So my scars… they do not make me hideous." She smiled with some confidence.

"Of course not Project…" Black Canary quickly stopped herself, but the first word was already out. The girl frowned a bit, but sighed,

"Project Power." She smiled slightly, but the smile looked painful. "That is my name."

"Then maybe it is time for a new name." Wonder Woman stated. "Black Canary, and I are technically your mothers. As mothers, we have every right to name out daughter." The girl looked at Wonder Woman wide eyed.

"You two are… going to… give me a name?" she questioned, making sure she didn't hear wrong.

"Of course." Black Canary smiled, then turned to whisper something in Wonder Woman's ear. The two went back and forth whispering for about a minute, until they looked over at the girl, who was looking at them confused.

"Athena." Wonder Woman smiled.

"Athena Laurel Prince." Black Canary added, telling the girl her full name.

"Athena Laurel Prince." The girl, Athena, repeated. She liked how the name felt in her mouth, and she liked how it sounded.

Athena grinned, repeating her new name, then hugged both of the women.

"THANK YOU!" she exclaimed happily. "Thank you so much for give my name!" she smiled happily, but paused, reviewing the sentence in her head. She was too excited and didn't think right.

"Thank you so much for… giving me my name." she said, fixing the sentence, then smiled brightly again.

She couldn't help herself from saying it again.

"Athena Laurel Prince."


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for taking awhile. Please enjoy and tell me what you think!**

**L.L.A.P**

**~Laces**

Chpt.5

Conner had paced back and forth in the kitchen, nervous of what was going on in the other room. They had been in there for over an hour. He was tempted to listen in, but he didn't want to be rude, or hear any other horrific things from when the girl was at Cadmus.

"Why are you so nervous?" Gar questioned, and Conner sighed.

"I'm just worried how they'll treat her. When Superman found out about me, well, he wasn't exactly thrilled." Gar shook his head.

"We're talking about Black Canary, and Wonder Woman. I can't see them being mean too her."

"Well, when you think of Superman, do you think he's a mean guy?" Gar frowned at that.

"No."

"Exactly." Conner sighed, slouching his shoulders, but then perked up when he heard footsteps approaching the kitchen.

"We'll visit again soon, Athena." Wonder Woman smiled.

"Hopefully next time we can bring the entire league with us." Added Black Canary as she bent down to hug the girl.

Conner felt an enormous wave of relief. They were treating her like an actual human being instead of some unnatural lab experiment.

The women walked into the transporter, and were beamed back up to the watch tower.

"How'd it go?" Conner inquired, looking over at the girl. She smiled brightly and ran up to him.

"Great!" She hugged him tightly. "They… gave me a name!" she informed with excitement. "Athena." She hugged Conner even tighter. "Athena Laurel Prince."

"Athena." Conner smiled. The name seemed to fit the girl.

"Isn't Athena the name of a Goddess or something?" Gar inquired. "Like… the Greek Goddess of Wisdom, and law and Justice?"

"No surprise that Wonder Woman wanted to name her that then." Conner smiled, then turned back to look at the girl.

"Athena, do you want to go outside?" he questioned, and her eyes widened and she jumped up and down in excitement.

"Can we?" she squeaked with hope, making Conner chuckle, and he started to walk towards the exit.

"Of course." He answered, and Athena was quickly at his side, along with Gar, who could use some time outside.

"Wait." Athena paused, then sprinted up to her room. Conner waited patiently as she ran back down with Ralph in her hands.

"He's never seen the sun either." She informed in a small voice when she noticed the strange look Gar gave her.

"Well let's not keep you two waiting." Conner grinned, and he could see the excitement building in the girl.

He understood why she was excited too. Conner's first day out in the sun was so much better than when he was stuck in the lab, growing in a pod. The sun itself was beautiful, and it felt nice on his skin, warming him. He could only imagine how Athena was going to react.

Conner opened the doors and Gar quickly flew out as a bird, but Athena stared at the entrance, and Conner held his hand out for her to take.

She slowly grasped his hand, then followed him outside, taking timid steps.

Athena's bare feet were suddenly warmed and cushioned by a strange sensation she didn't know how to explain. In front of her was a large mass of water that crashed down in waves, but Athena wasn't paying attention to that.

Her attention was quickly on the giant bright orb in the sky. The sun warmed her face and skin, and she felt as if it were concentrating it's heat and strength all on her.

"Ralph, it's the sun." she said in a whisper, talking to the stuffed bear in her hands. She then turned to Conner, filled with excitement and happiness, pointing at the sun.

"Conner! Sun! It's the sun! I not could believing the sun to be beautiful! So beautiful!" she exclaimed happily, jumbling words and ignoring grammar. "And anything was is opened! And the air smelt salt and other things! And what's under me feet? Is it dirt? Is every dirt like this? The sky so blue! Why is the sky blue? Where do the stars go when the sky comes out? What am me smelling? This is the best day of my life!"

Conner stood and smiled at her, not being able to answer her questions due to how one came quickly after the other, and how he wasn't sure what she was exactly asking.

She then froze, frowning slightly.

"I… said most of that wrong… didn't I?" she questioned in a low voice, and Conner shrugged.

"You did pretty good. But ignore how you speak right now, your excited. Go and run around, it's all open space." He informed. "Oh, and what's underneath your toes is sand."

Athena took Conner's advice and was quickly running around the beach, observing the sea grass, and sea shells, and kept looking up at the sky as if it were going to disappear.

Conner was smiling as he watched her run around, and Gar was next to him.

"I'm taking it this was a good day for her." Gar stated with a grin.

"Considering she was given a name, and saw the sun for the first time? Yes. I think that this was a great day for her."

They watched as she fell to the ground, but before they could run to her to see if she was okay, Athena quickly stood back to her feet laughing, then started to run around again.

Conner was happy for the girl, but he noticed something. She was keeping a wide berth between herself and the water.

Gar noticed this too and was quickly running up to the girl.

"Hey, Athena, wanna go for a swim?" he inquired with a smile as he morphed into an octopus.

Athena looked at the water nervously. Her eyes focused on the rise and decent of the waves, and she shook slightly.

"I do not… know how to swim." She informed in a low voice, and Gar was quickly back in his human form again.

"It's okay. The water isn't that deep. You can just get your feet wet if you want to." He informed with an easy going smile.

"J-Just my… feet?" she inquired with a small stuttered, and Gar's eyes widened.

"You don't have to go in the water if you don't want to." He said quickly. "I just thought that you'd like it."

The girl shook her head sadly.

"I do not like… large bodies of water." Athena said in a whisper, and Gar quickly grabbed her hand, pulling her further away from the ocean.

"Then you don't need to go in." he then looked over at Conner, who was walking up to them.

"Do you want to see the rest of Happy Harbor? There's a town near bye."

"A town?" Athena questioned. She looked puzzled, and she scrunched up her face in thought. "I… heard the word before… I know that word… what is it?"

"A town has stores and shops and it's where people live." Conner informed, and Athena nodded.

"I… understand now." She paused for a moment. "Town." She whispered, trying not to forget the word.

However, there was a sudden loud _bang _and the ground shook. Conner looked over towards the town and smoke was coming off of a building.

"Gar, look after Athena, I'll call in if I need help." He stated quickly, then looked over at Athena. "Sorry, Athena. But…"

"Go save people." Athena smiled, and Conner ran off.

Gar looked over at Athena and noticed she was looking off in the direction where Conner ran to with some worry.

"Hey." He said softly, and Athena looked over at him. "He's Superboy. He'll be okay." Athena slowly smiled and then fell backwards onto the sand, looking up at the sky.

"I can't… believe that I'm… free." She whispered, and Gar laid down on the sand next to her.

"What exactly did Cadmus do to you? Why did they never take you outside?" he inquired, and Athena sighed.

"I don't know… why they kept me inside. I… suppose it was to keep my… hope at bay. If it wasn't for Mr. Ralph I… would have thought that there… was nothing beyond the walls." She said sadly. "I… liked Mr. Ralph."

"Where is he now?" Gar inquired, and Athena squeezed her teddy bear tighter.

"I don't know... I wish I knew. He was really… nice." Athena smiled when she remembered the day Mr. Ralph proclaimed that it was her birthday and he slipped her a book and a piece of chocolate.

The book was called A Catcher in the Rye. It was the first book she learned how to read. Athena liked the book. She felt bad for the main character, but she enjoyed it. It was her favorite birthday. She remembered that it was the perfect ending to her day, considering earlier that day she was shot in the arm several times.

"You also… asked what Cadmus did to me?" she inquired.

"Yeah." Gar nodded. "But something tells me I don't want to know." He said quietly.

"I don't think it would be… considered… humane." Athena informed, then pointed to several scars on her arms.

Gar winced, and he can only imagine what happened to her that resulted in her getting them. She was so young too. Gar frowned, thinking about that. His mother constantly loved him when he was growing up. She was always there to quickly bandage a cut knee. But Athena had no mother. She had no one who seemed to really love her.

Except for Mr. Ralph.

"Gar! Project Power! Get in here!" the girl sat up and winced at the name. It was La'gaan yelling from the entry way to the beach.

Gar helped Athena up, and the two ran toward the building. However, when Athena reached La'gaan she said in a proud voice,

"My name is Athena Laurel Prince." La'gaan raised an eyebrow.

"Says who?" he questioned with disbelief.

"Wonder Woman and Black Canary named me." she informed with some excitement, but La'gaan still looked doubtful.

"La'gaan, she's telling the truth." Gar stated, and the Atlantian seemed to let it go.

"Fine, Athena. Get in the debriefing room. The first room to the right. Batman needs to talk to the team and you." La'gaan then turned to look at Gar. "Garfield, I need to talk to you for a moment."

He shooed Athena away, and the girl slowly walked to where La'gaan instructed her to, and Gar glared at his elder.

"What's up with you?" Gar questioned. He liked it better when M'gann was dating Conner, and he didn't like how La'gaan handled things.

"Watch yourself, Garfield. That… creature cannot be trusted." He stated, and Gar's eyes widened.

"She's just a little girl…"

"A little girl created by Cadmus, grown in a lab. What if they have a mind control device in her, and she's really a spy? Or what if after years of having no abilities, she suddenly gains some and starts accidentally killing people. What if she can't control Superman's strength? Or Black Canary's scream?" Gar shook his head, but didn't know how to respond to what La'gaan was saying.

"Face it, Garfield. You know that she cannot be trusted." La'gaan shook his head. "And when she turns on us, I'll be ready for her."


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the lack of action. there will be action, but i have to establish stuff. *sigh* Please enjoy, and tell me what you think. constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. :)**

**L.L.A.P**

**~Laces **

Chpt.6

Athena looked up at Batman and Nightwing. Batman kept his serious face when she entered the room, but Nightwing gave her a warm smile, making her feel more welcomed.

"I have a name now." Athena informed with excitement, looking up at the two men.

"We know Athena, Wonder Woman told us." Nightwing grinned as he ruffled the girl's black hair, making her giggle.

"Athena, where is everyone else?" Batman inquired, and the girl looked behind her, puzzled.

"They were… right… behind me." she whispered, but La'gaan and Gar slowly entered the room. Gar was frowning, slightly, making Athena tilt her head in confusion.

"Gar, are you… alright?" she inquired. For the few hours she had known him, the boy had hardly looked that… well Athena didn't know how to exactly describe the look on his face, but it did not look good.

"He's fine." La'gaan stated sharply. "Now, what's going on that the little minnow needs to be here too?" he inquired, giving Athena a pointed look. The look made Athena shrink a bit, but Nightwing gently placed a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Where's Superboy?" he inquired, ignoring La'gaan's question.

"Conner went to see a… an explosion… in town." Athena informed, feeling a bit proud of herself for using the word town correctly.

"And I'm back." Conner stated, stepping into the room. Athena quickly ran towards him giving him a hug. "It was just a bank robbery. No casualties, and everyone's okay." He informed calmly, and he smiled slightly at the girl. Just then M'gann floated into the room.

"Sorry I'm late." She apologized, landing next to La'gaan.

"It's alright, we're still waiting for everyone else to get here." Nightwing informed, and in a gust of wind, a boy appeared next to Nightwing.

"Miss me? I know you did. It's only natural. So, what's the deal? What's going on? Is it a big mission? Something really important? I could help! I'd totally crash whatever mode is going on!" a fast voice exclaimed.

"Who are you?" Athena inquired, tilting her head to the side.

"I'm Impulse!" the boy exclaimed happily.

"And why exactly are you here? You're not officially part of the team." Nightwing stated, and Bart shrugged.

"I heard the league talking about the meeting over their COM links." He informed.

"That's impossible. You don't have a COM link, and they're frequency is impossible to crack into." Nightwing said, shooting the boy a pointed look.

"Ha. Frequencies are something kids crack into all the time. It's what we do for fun. It's totally crash." Impulse laughed.

"I am… confused… what is crash and mode?" Athena inquired. Conner opened his mouth to say something, but Impulse was faster to speak.

"Mode is bad, crash is good." he informed, as Mal and Bumblebee walked into the room, followed closely by Wondergirl, Batgirl, and Robin.

"Great, the speedster's here." Robin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, foreseeing a headache.

Blue Beetle quickly flew into the room.

"I'm not late, and I was _not _going to kill that guy just because he was driving to slow, just let it go! Ay dios mio!" he grunted in frustration, earning him odd looks from everyone in the room.

"Hey guys." He waved sheepishly, noticing the eyes staring at him. Batman then cleared his throat.

"Now that everyone's here, the meeting can begin." Batman stated.

"What about Impulse?" Nightwing questioned, looking at the boy who currently had a random freeze pop in his hands.

"It doesn't matter." Batman sighed. "I don't think we can make him leave, anyhow."

"Correct." Impulse smiled.

"This meeting is about Athena." Batman said in a stone cold voice, and everyone looked at the girl, making her want to disappear. "Cadmus isn't thrilled that we took her. We have been advised by Cadmus leaders to either return her, or destroy her, for the good of the human population."

Athena's eyes widened and she took a small step back.

Conner wrapped an arm around Athena in a small light hug, then looked at Batman.

"What do they mean by the good of the human population?" he questioned, his tone hinting at his anger.

"They said that she might have malfunctions since she is a failed project." Batman informed, making Athena flinch. "They also said that it would put her out of her misery."

Athena was shaking, her eyes welling up with tears, and she hugged Conner's leg tightly.

"I-I'm fine… I don't hurt… I'm not in… misery…" she whispered.

"Wait, you're suggesting that we kill the girl?" Mal questioned in disbelief. Mal didn't even know who she was, but that was something he was _not _okay with.

"No." Batman stated. "I told Cadmus that killing her was not an option, which made them very unhappy. We have to be careful where Athena goes. People from Cadmus _will _be looking for her, and they will shoot to kill."

"So why did we all need to know this?" La'gaan questioned, crossing his arms.

"Because she will be living here for the time being, and all of you need to be careful if you take her anywhere." Batman explained. "There is a target on her back, and if Cadmus gets a chance to kill her, they'll take it."

Athena looked around at all the people in the cave, then at Batman.

"You… won't kill me?" she questioned, her voice shaking.

"We do not kill." Batman stated sternly, and Nightwing walked over to her and quickly scooped the girl up into his arms.

"Stay whelmed, Athena. We'll never hurt you." He grinned. "Now, meet the team."

Conner watched as Athena met the remaining members of the team, but looked over at La'gaan and noticed the unhappy look on his face.

"What's up with you?" he questioned.

"She's going to be nothing but a problem. And what if she _does _malfunction? We're all going to wish we killed her when we had the chance." La'gaan explained.

"Don't say things like that." Conner growled in a low voice. "She's just a little girl."

"A little girl who could malfunction at any moment." La'gaan stated. "She's a ticking time bomb."

"You make her sound like a robot." Conner growled, crossing his arms.

"Well, she is a lab experiment. The only difference between her and a robot is that she's biological." La'gaan shrugged.

Conner had to restrain himself from punching the Atlantian.

"Oh, that's right. You're a lab experiment too." La'gaan smirked. "Maybe you suffered a malfunction when you decided to break up with _my_ Angel Fish."

And back to the girlfriend thing. La'gaan just loved shoving Conner's breakup in his face.

Conner's jaw clenched, and he was having trouble restraining himself from throwing La'gaan through the cave wall.

"La'gaan, weren't you going to take me to the movies?" M'gann inquired, walking up to the two.

"Of course, Angel Fish." He smiled, leaning in, giving M'gann a long kiss. Conner walked away in disgust, but smiled when he saw Athena talking to some of the team. Specifically Wondergirl, and Bumblebee.

La'gaan had his own reasons for hating her, and Conner wasn't going to try to change the guy's mind. He could care less for what La'gaan thought. At least he would tell himself that so he wouldn't punch him. He was still a kid with anger issues deep down.

Conner turned to look at Batman.

"Cadmus really wants to kill her just because she failed?" he inquired skeptically.

"There is most likely, another reason." Batman stated. "Keep an eye on her."

"You think she'll malfunction?" Conner inquired, raising an eyebrow, and Batman kept his stoic face.

"I don't know what to think. She is definitely different from most children. She speaks as if she is unsure of the language, yet the words she chooses makes her sound much more like an adult." Batman informed, and Conner nodded.

"I don't know what she uses a larger vocabulary, but she is relatively new to the English language. She told me that she grew up around several different languages that she picked up on her own." Batman nodded.

"I also fear for her mentality. She is, in every sense of the term, an abused child. I am just… unsure about her. And I'm not the only one." Batman let out a sigh, which was the most emotion Conner had ever seen from the hero.

"Keep an eye on her. Keep her safe, and if something happens, report directly to me." Conner nodded, then looked back over at Athena.

As she talked to the other members, she was clutching onto her Teddy bear, and Dick tightly. She was smiling, but she still looked at the people nervously, flinching at any sudden movements they made.

She was going to need a lot of socializing, and help. Conner was going to make sure what happened to Athena at Cadmus was not going to impact negatively on the rest of her life.


	7. Chapter 7

**Enjoy and please tell me what you think :D**

**L.L.A.P**

**~Laces**

Chpt.7

"The league refused to destroy her?" Dr. Milo questioned, although he already figured the answer.

"Of course. And if you want to keep getting my funding, you have better find her and _finish_ her. I can't be related to this in any way." A man stated, glaring at the scientist.

Milo shrugged looking at the girl's medical records.

"There's not much of your DNA in her, and all she knows is that her DNA is made up of only heroes." Milo explained. The other man shook his head.

"There is still a part of me there. If they examine her DNA close enough, they'll see a part of _me_ and I will have no alibi as to why." The man sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Well, couldn't you just… I don't know… pay off enough people so you wouldn't be found out." Milo suggested.

"To pay off enough people to hide the fact that my DNA just so happens to be part of an experiment that may cause mass destruction? Why, that would take more money than I _have_."

"What about Bruce Wayne? Aren't you friends with him?"

"_Childhood_ friends. And Bruce would ask questions, and would not be okay with what I'm doing if I did tell him." The man sighed. "So, the quick and easy solution would be for you to simply kill her."

Dr. Milo sighed, but nodded.

"We're trying, but it's hard to find her." He explained.

"Didn't you put a tracker in her?" the man questioned, and Milo looked down at the floor, feeling stupid.

"We didn't think there'd be any need." The other man sighed, running his hands through his hair.

"For a scientist, you're unbelievably stupid."

"_You're_ the one who wanted to have some of your DNA in the experiments." Milo debated, slightly enraged that the man was putting all the blame on him.

"Because I thought they were all going to be successes! Not one surviving failure! I was supposed to be the father of powerful weapons!" the man grunted angrily. "I don't care how, but you will _find _her, and once you do, _kill _her." The man straightened out his jacket, striding to the door. "If I do get caught, I will find a way to make you pay, and you know it Milo."

Dr. Milo nodded his head, his eyes wide with fear.

"I understand sir." Milo said in a small voice, and the other man grinned, turning his back to the scientist.

"Good. Now make it happen."

~*~*~*~*~At Mt. Justice~*~*~*~*~

"Where's Athena?" Wondergirl inquired, looking at Conner, and he sighed. This was the third day of Athena living in Mt. Justice, and he quickly realized that it was going to take a while for her to get fully adjusted.

"She's been gone all morning, but the monitors haven't reported anyone going outside. I think she's…"

"Hiding so no one sees her crying?" Robin suggested in a whisper, walking over to the group holding Athena in his arms. The girl was asleep, but her cheeks were wet from when she was crying earlier.

"She must've had another bad dream." Conner sighed, gently taking Athena from Robin's hands.

Conner found out quickly that Athena was always told to never cry, but to tell a little girl that is ridiculous. So, Athena would wait until she was all alone, or where no one could see her, and just cry for a while.

Despite being safe, Athena still would think about Cadmus, and was too afraid to cry in front of everyone.

"Where was she?" Wondergirl inquired in a concerned voice.

"A supply closet." Robin answered, which would explain why Athena smelt a bit like cleaning products to Conner.

The girl started to stir in Conner's arms, and he waited for her to wake up. Her blue and green eyes settled on him in some confusion.

"Conner?" she inquired.

"It's me, Athena." Conner nodded, and the girl looked around, most likely confused how she fell asleep in a closet then somehow landed in Conner's arms.

"Why'd you lock yourself in the closet?" Wondergirl inquired, and Athena looked down at the ground.

"I…" she paused, stopping herself. Everyone knew she was in there to cry, but she never wanted to say so.

"You can talk to us, Athena. It's alright, you won't get in any trouble." Robin informed gently, and Athena looked up at him, then glanced at everyone else.

"I was… crying." She whispered in a shameful voice. "I'm sorry." She started to shake slightly. "I never… mean to cry… I just… I'm just really scared."

"Scared?" Wondergirl inquired, and Athena nodded.

"I'm scared that… I will be sent… back to Cadmus. I'm scared that I will be… found. And killed. I'm scared of… some of the team… I just get scared." She informed, shaking her head. "I'm so sorry."

"There's no need for you to be sorry about being scared, Athena." Conner stated. "We all get scared, but everything's going to be okay. We will _never_ send you to Cadmus, we won't let you be found, and no one on this team will hurt you." Athena smiled slightly, nodding, and Conner placed her back on her feet.

"Athena, today Cassie is going to take you into town." Robin smiled.

"Cassie?" she looked up at Wondergirl, then smiled. "Is that your other name? Like how Superboy is Conner?"

"Yes." Cassie grinned, but Athena frowned slightly.

"But… what if they find me?" Athena inquired, and Cassie beamed at her.

"They can't find you if they don't recognize you." Cassie informed, taking a hold of Athena's hand.

"Here, I'll show you in your room!" she said with excitement. Athena followed Cassie, and once inside the room, Cassie took out a wig from her bag. It was dark brown and short and curly.

"I think this wig should look pretty convincing. I was thinking blond, but your skin's too dark for that to look natural. So, brown. It's short and curly, which helps because you're hair's long, wavy, and black." Cassie seemed very proud of herself.

"How do you put it on?" Athena inquired, and Cassie patted, the edge of the bed for her to sit.

"It might take a while." She informed, taking out some hair pins and a wig cap. Athena sat on the edge of the bed, where Cassie started to take strands of the girl's long hair, and started to pin the strands of hair closer to her head. She then pulled the wig cap over her head, pining it into place.

Then came the wig, which Cassie also used an excessive amount of pins to hold into place.

"There we go." Cassie grinned happily, proud of her wig work. "Now, time for your eye color."

Athena didn't necessarily enjoy the brown contacts, but she had felt much more uncomfortable before, so she could deal with the strange feeling covering her eyes.

Cassie then pulled out a pair of jeans that looked like they would fit her, along with a long sleeve shirt. Both would cover her scars easily.

The green long sleeve shirt fit well, but the jeans were slightly long. Cassie had a quick solution and rolled up her pant legs to fit.

She then gave the girl some socks and sneakers to put on.

"There." Cassie said, pleased with herself, holding up a mirror for Athena.

The small girl looked in the mirror and her eyes widened.

"I… look so different." She said in a soft voice, but then smiled. "I look different!" she could care less about the strange feeling contacts and the somewhat itchy wig. All Athena cared about was the fact that she looked different.

"Now let's head to town and get you some more cloths, and I'll take you to the mall! Oh my god, Athena, you are going to love the mall!" Cassie said with excitement. "It will be a total girl's day out. Just you and me!"

Athena couldn't help from laughing happily as she followed Cassie downstairs after the elder got changed into jeans, boots, and a sweatshirt, and pulled her hair into a pony tail.

Conner was surprised by how well Cassie was able to disguise Athena so well.

"Great disguise." Conner smiled, but then walked closer to Cassie as Athena headed towards the door. "Keep an eye on her, okay? If anything goes wrong, just give a shout. I'll hear you." He stated seriously, and Cassie nodded.

"I'll look after her, Conner. There's nothing to worry about." Cassie said softly, then caught up with Athena, ready to go outside for the second time in her life.

~*~*~*~*~At the mall~*~*~*~*~

Athena was in awe at how many people were in one large building. People were moving past her quickly and Athena was too busy observing the scene around her that she didn't realize Cassie moving ahead.

"Athena?" Cassie questioned, turning around, and she saw the girl frozen, staring at everything around her. Athena then noticed that she was separated from the older girl, and sprinted over to her.

While doing so, the young girl collided with a larger man, landing her on her butt.

"S-s-s-s-s-"Athena was trying to get the word 'sorry' out, but was too terrified. She had just collided with a man she didn't know at a busy mall. Was she in trouble? Is that a crime? Nobody else seemed to be bumping into each other.

"Are you okay?" the man questioned, helping Athena to her feet. Athena nodded and Cassie was quickly at her side.

"I'm sorry, sir. My cousin gets distracted easily." She said with an apologetic smile, and the man shrugged.

"It's alright. You two be safe, now." The man grinned, then continued to walk along.

"Watch where you're going, okay Athena?" Cassie questioned, and the girl mutely nodded. Cassie gently gripped Athena's hand, and the two walked into a clothing store.

Athena didn't expect for there to be such a large amount of clothing items. She grew up wearing a one piece zip up suit for majority of her life, but she realized that the stores didn't even sell one piece zip up suits.

Cassie had her try on t-shirts, and jeans, and shoes, and hats, and scarves, and jackets, and some items of clothing Athena couldn't even identify the name.

They ended up leaving the store with a bag that was _huge_, completely filled with clothing. Cassie reminded herself to thank Batman for the money to get Athena clothes. She wouldn't be surprised if she found out Batman was a billionaire or something of the sorts.

As they were walking through the mall, they passed a music shop.

"What's that?" Athena inquired, looking up at Cassie.

"What's what?" the older questioned, confused about what the girl was referring to.

"That… sound. I've been… hearing it throughout the mall… but this is a very… nice sound. It's like talking and… other things… but… not."

"You mean the music?" Cassie questioned, still perplexed.

"Is that what music is?" Athena inquired, listening more to the sound playing nearby. Cassie looked over at the music shop.

"You mean the sound coming from that store?" she questioned, pointing to the store. Athena nodded her head, and Cassie chuckled.

_"Let's rock! Everybody let's rock. Everybody in the old cell block. Were dancin' to the jail house rock."_

"That's Elvis." She informed, and Athena was still confused.

"Elvis?"

"The person singing. His name is Elvis." Cassie stated as she and Athena made their way to the store. Athena never was introduced to music before. She heard a guard occasionally hum, but that was the closest she had ever heard of music.

"I like Elvis." The girl nodded, listening to the song some more.

"It must be his birthday or something for them to be playing it." Cassie mused as they walked into the store. She then picked up a CD.

"Do you want to listen to this when we get home? It's all of Elvis' hits."

"Is that a good thing?" Athena inquired, and Cassie nodded.

"Yes, that's a good thing." Athena thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Alright…that sounds fun."

Cassie bought the CD, and the two started to head back to the exit to get back home, or at least that's what Athena started calling it. The rest of the team usually referred to it as "the base" or "Mt. Justice" but Athena was the only one who actually dubbed it as her home.

"Thank you for taking me out today. The world is so… big." Athena smiled. "And all the English is also a big help."

"Help?" Cassie inquired, raising an eyebrow. No one had told her about how Athena was still learning the language.

"For my speaking." Athena explained, and Cassie just assumed that Athena was thanking her for the experience to expand her vocabulary. "Just, thank you. I… appreciate it very much."

Cassie smiled as she swung their clasped hands a little.

"No problem, Athena."


	8. Chapter 8

**Constructive criticism is appreciated! Please enjoy and tell me what you think! Sorry for any OOC in this chapter if there is any. I'm trying to stay as close to the characters as possible. **

**L.L.A.P**

**~Laces **

Chpt.8

Conner never expected Athena to be so in love with music. Especially Elvis. She had memorized all of his songs and would often sing along with the CD when she was alone in her room or in the shower, but she was too nervous to sing in front of anybody else.

However, Conner was grateful for the music. It was helping Athena with learning English as well, and she often didn't have breaks in her sentences.

After Elvis came the Four Seasons, and then Cassie introduced her to Kelly Clarkson, and Bumblebee said that it would be a sin not to have Athena listen to Michael Jackson.

Mal noticed Athena's passion for listening to music, and asked her what her favorite Disney song was. When the girl replied that she didn't know what Disney was, he was adamant that she should watch all the movies in order to have a proper child hood.

Mal got his way and had a week long Disney movie marathon.

Athena's favorite movies after she was finished watching them all, were Lilo and Stitch, Hercules, and Mulan. Her favorite Disney Princess was Tiana.

Athena felt an odd connection with Stitch in Lilo and Stich. He was an experiment that people wanted to destroy, and he felt just as lost as she sometimes felt. There was plenty of Elvis music in the movie as well, which made her smile.

Despite loving the movie, she always cried at the end. Mal saw her crying, but didn't address it. He knew that if he did, she'd crawl back into her shell and hide away, and she was making a lot of process with being more open. He didn't want her running and hiding again. However, Mal always wondered if she was crying out of happiness or sadness at the end of the movie.

Three weeks had passed with her listening to music, watching Disney movies, and going outside to soak up the sun on the beach, however she remained to steer clear of the water.

Everyone noticed this, especially La'gaan.

"By Neptune's beard, it's only water." La'gaan stated. He was planning to go for a swim when he noticed the girl staring at the waves with fear as she sat on the beach.

The team trusted her on the beach alone. Not many people were ever allowed access onto the beach, and they didn't have to worry about her getting hurt in the ocean due to her fear of it.

Athena sighed as she stared at the water, then looked down at Ralph.

"I know Ralph. I wasn't thinking about it." She then looked up at La'gaan. "I'm not good in water." La'gaan raised an eyebrow.

"But do you not have part of my king's DNA?" he questioned, and Athena tilted her head, confused.

"Your king?"

"You know him as Aquaman." La'gaan sighed, looking at Athena like she was stupid.

"Oh." She nodded. "I do have some of his DNA." La'gaan sighed, shaking his head in disgust.

"You have my King's DNA, and yet you are too afraid of the water. Truly pitiful." He sneered.

"I'll drown." Athena whispered, looking over at Ralph. "Yeah. I remember, Ralph."

"That's an excuse, minnow." La'gaan stated as he walked off to the ocean.

Athena watched as he jumped into the ocean and swam with ease. He made swimming through the terrifying waves look like child's play.

"Actually Ralph…"

_"Don't be an idiot, Athena. You'll die."_

"Who knows. It's been awhile since I tried." Athena said with some hope, looking at the bear with a small smile.

_"And don't you remember the last time you tried? You drowned several times. You tried as hard as you could, but it was no use. You can't swim! And I don't want you to get hurt!"_

"But maybe I won't get hurt, Ralph! Maybe it's a skill that comes with age. I have to try. Then I could swim with Gar, and Cassie. Maybe Conner could swim with us too." She explained.

_"But you can't swim, Athena! I don't want you to get hurt!" _Athena sighed, looking over at her teddy bear.

"I have to at least _try_." She then smiled slightly. "Maybe La'gaan might like me if I could swim."

_"Don't do things just so he can like you." _

"But I didn't do anything wrong. And M'gann likes him a lot. We could be friends." She said softly.

_"Athena…" _

"I'm swimming today, Ralph." Athena stated sternly, then stood to her feet, leaving Ralph on the sand. She was barefoot, wearing mesh shorts and a green tank top. She didn't bother wearing her wig and contacts while on the beach.

Athena reached the water's edge, and took in a deep breath, walking foreword.

"I can do this." She whispered as she continued walking deeper into the water. Athena thought that she was doing pretty well.

Unfortunately a wave knocked her over, and started to drag her out into the ocean. She felt as if the ocean had hands and it was pulling her down and further into its mouth. She flailed her arms and legs, trying to imitate La'gaan how he swam, but she couldn't get the motion down.

Her head bobbed to the surface and she was able to get a breath, but then she was quickly pulled back down.

Her lungs filled with water when she attempted to breathe again, and she felt herself sinking deeper.

A memory quickly flashed before her eyes.

_"Please! D-do not… put… put me in there… again. Please" Athena pleaded, and Milo sighed. _

_ "Project Power, I know you can do this. Just breath underwater. Or hold your breath. You're only going to be submerged in there for fifteen minutes." _

_ "I… cannot… breath in there. Or… or hold… my breath." _

_ "Only you can decide that." Milo stated as he dragged her back to the water tank. _

Athena felt a pair of hands grab her and pull her up.

_Conner?_ Athena thought as she felt herself be pulled above the water and dragged onto the beach.

She coughed and water poured out of her throat.

"By Neptune's Beard! Were you trying to get yourself killed?" La'gaan shouted, then slung her over his shoulder. He then picked up Ralph, then walked into Mt. Justice.

Nobody was there except for Beast Boy, and M'gann, who were both in the training room.

He placed Athena onto her bed and handed the bear to her. He left the room and quickly returned with a towel and wrapped it around her.

"You stupid creature! You almost died!" La'gaan shouted, and Athena grasped onto Ralph tightly.

"I just thought-"

"It doesn't matter what you thought! You almost died! I thought you told me that you'd drown!" Athena looked down at her feet.

"You said that that was an excuse." Athena whispered, and La'gaan's eyes widened.

"I didn't think you'd…" he started, but then shook his head. "Minnow, you know your limitations. Don't try to do something when you know you can't. Got it?"

Athena nodded, then looked up at La'gaan.

"Thanks for getting me out of the water." She said softly. "And for remembering to grab Ralph."

La'gaan rolled his eyes.

"I only grabbed the stupid toy because I figured you'd be in some sort of catatonic shock by now, and you'd need something to calm yourself." La'gaan informed. "Why aren't you panicking? Most people would." He questioned gruffly.

"This isn't the first time I almost died in the water." Athena sighed. "I guess you could say that I am used to it."

La'gaan suddenly felt a twinge of pity for the girl, but his heart hardened again.

_Experiments can't be trusted. She can malfunction at any time. She could turn, just like… _La'gaan pushed the thought out of his head.

"Don't let it happen again. I might not be there to get you out next time." He stated, then stormed out of the room.

_"You scared me." _Athena looked down in her hands at Ralph.

"Sorry. I guess you were right. I just thought…"

_"I know what you were thinking, Athena. And you know why. I'm you."_ Athena shook her head, droplets of water falling from her hair.

"Ralph, you know I don't want to believe that. You're Ralph. You're my friend." She said quietly.

_"I'm you, Athena. Only you decided to hear your voice come from a bear." _

"Ralph… I'm not ready." Athena whispered sadly.

_"Alright, Athena. But one day you'll realize that I'm just you. But it'll be okay because you won't need to talk to me." _

"But right now I need you." Athena said softly, holding the bear tighter in her hands. He was the only one who never left her. He couldn't leave her now.

_"Okay, Athena. I love you."_ Athena hugged the bear tightly, shivering slightly from the cool air on her wet skin.

"I love you too."


	9. Chapter 9

**What did i do on my second day of summer vacation? I went to a farmers market and bought the new Smallville issue, and i suggest if you love reading wonderful things, you should buy it too. then i worked on this chapter for several hours because i have no life and i kept getting stuck. while doing so, i listened to Elvis, Quest for Camalot, and Disney songs in English and other languages. **

**It is sad how i have no life.**

**Anyways, please enjoy the chapter! :D**

**L.L.A.P**

**~Laces**

**P.S.**

**I noticed i didnt do this so i own NOTHING except for Athena. DC owns everything else. **

**And Disney owns all the Disney stuff i mention.**

**And Elvis owns all his songs.**

**I OWN NOTHING BUT MY OC!**

**Oh, also i know Haly's Circus is spelled weird along with Mr. Haly's name, but in Young Justice, that's how it's spelled. Why? Absolutely no clue, but that's why i spelled it Haly instead of Haley. **

Chpt.9

Athena decided that it was best for her not to tell anyone about how she almost drowned . She knew that they allowed her on the beach without any supervision because they knew that she was safe there. If she told them she almost died, they would most likely feel compelled to watch over her even on the beach.

Athena enjoyed being with people, but she did enjoy her alone time on the beach. She enjoyed just being able to relax and soak up the sun.

It was strange how much she enjoyed the feel of the sun warming her skin. It felt as if she were gaining it's strength.

Athena walked into the living room, and saw Conner's huge pet.

"Hello Wolf." Athena smiled, petting the giant animal.

She liked Wolf, and Wolf liked the girl as well. Sometimes Conner would walk into the living room and find Athena curled up sleeping comfortably on Wolf's stomach, and the animal would be curled around her protectively. Athena was Wolf's pup, and Wolf was _very _protective of her.

Conner was the only one who was allowed to pick Athena up and off of Wolf's stomach when she slept to put her in her own bed. Any other team mate who made any attempt to pick the girl up was stopped by Wolf's low threatening growl.

"How are you today?" Athena inquired, scratching behind the massive animal's ear. Wolf was, by all means, bigger than the girl, so she had to get on her tip toes to scratch behind his ears.

"Have you seen Conner?" Ralph was the only one who talked back to her when she asked questions. She knew that Wolf wouldn't talk back, but she enjoyed talking to him like he understood her.

"He's out on a mission." Athena looked up to see… well, she didn't exactly know _who _he was. He sounded familiar, but she didn't think she had ever seen his face before. She was quickly behind Wolf, but she was puzzled why Wolf didn't seem as on edge to a stranger in Mt. Justice.

The man wore sun glasses, had longer black hair, and looked to be in his early twenties. He wore a tight fitting blue t-shirt, a black jacket and jeans.

"W-who are you?" she questioned timidly.

"Athena, it's me, Nightwing." He said calmly.

"Nightwing?" Athena looked over the man again. She had never seen him out of costume.

The girl walked out from behind Wolf, and looked up at Nightwing curiously.

"Why aren't you wearing your outfit?" she inquired, and Dick laughed.

"I got some time off." He said with a shrugged. "I was wondering if you want to come with me to the circus." He informed, and Athena tilted her head.

"Circus?"

"When people flip around and people walk across the tight rope, and elephants do tricks and there are daring stunts. You know… Circus." Nightwing explained the best he could. Athena could only think of Dumbo when he explained the circus, but she was up for seeing something new.

"So, you want to come with me?" Nightwing questioned with a broad smile, and Athena nodded with some excitement.

"Alright." Nightwing chuckled and handed her a helmet.

"Let's get going then." Athena smiled and quickly put in her brown contacts and short wig. Cassie taught her how to quickly change into her disguise.

Athena had never rode a motorcycle, but Nightwing helped her put the helmet on, and he placed the girl on top of the vehicle, and got on in front of her.

"Hold on tight." He advised, and quickly revved the engine. Athena clutched onto his jacket tightly as the motorcycle sped off.

Athena didn't know why, but she was enjoying the speed of the vehicle. It was an exhilarating feeling. An adrenaline rush, and she found herself loving every second of it.

While Nightwing was stopped at a stop light, he turned around to look at Athena.

"Are you doing alright?" he inquired and she nodded with a big smile on her face, and Nightwing couldn't help but smile back. Yup, she definitely had Bruce's fearlessness and love for fast vehicles.

_God help her when we teach her how to drive_. Nightwing thought to himself as he continued to drive the motorcycle.

They reached the Circus tent, and Nightwing helped the girl off.

"Alright, Athena." He stated as he helped her take off her helmet, and then he took of his own. Then his glasses. "Call me Dick, alright?"

"Dick? Is that your other name?" Athena questioned, and he nodded.

"Just keep it a secret. I can trust you with that, right?" he smiled, and the girl nodded seriously. He couldn't help himself from ruffling her hair. "Alright, let's head in and get our seats."

Athena held Dick's hand so she wouldn't get separated from him, just like she did with Cassie at the mall.

Dick found two seats and got some popcorn for them.

"Feel the aster, Athena. Circus shows are the best." He grinned, and Athena smiled as the lights dimmed and a spot light was pointed at the ring master.

~*~*~*~*~*~Later~*~*~*~*~*~

"That was amazing!" Athena exclaimed after the show was over and people were leaving. Her eyes were wide, still amazed about what she had seen.

"Haly's Circus is the best." Dick smiled as he stood from his seat. Athena grasped Dick's hand and followed him, but was confused when they didn't go to the exit. He actually headed closer to where the animals were.

Dick headed straight to an elephant and placed a hand gently on its side.

"Hey, Zitka." He smiled, and the elephant wrapped a trunk around him like a hug. Dick looked down at Athena.

"Athena, this is Zitka. She's a good friend of mine." Dick grinned, and Athena smiled at the creature. She always loved Elephants. But to be fair, she liked majority of the animals she saw.

"So he says hello to the Elephant before me? I'm hurt." Athena turned around to see an older looking man.

"Zitka was practically calling for me during the performance. I couldn't just ignore her afterwards." Dick chuckled as he walked over to the older man. "It's great to see you again, Mr. Haly." He smiled.

"It's great seeing you again too, Dick." The older man grinned, and Dick turned to look at Athena.

"Athena, this is an old friend, Mr. Haly." He informed. "Mr. Haly, this is Athena." The girl made the motion to shake the man's hand, but Mr. Haly hugged her instead.

"It's great meeting you, Athena." He looked at Dick with a raised eyebrow, and Dick quickly shook his head.

"She's a friend of mine." He informed quickly. He was too young to be having kids. Mr. Haly smiled, and looked down at Athena.

"So, did you enjoy the show?" he questioned.

"It was amazing!" Athena beamed happily.

"It would have been even more amazing if Dick performed." Mr. Haly grinned, looking up at Dick, and Athena looked over at him.

"You can perform in a circus?" she inquired, and Mr. Haly laughed.

"Of course he can! Once a Flying Grayson, always a Flying Grayson." Mr. Haly exclaimed with joy. He seemed like a proud father.

"I used to swing around on the trapeze with my family." Dick informed with a small smile.

"Before we break everything down, do you want to swing around for old times' sake?" Mr. Haly questioned, and Dick smiled.

"How could I say no?" Mr. Haly chuckled and started to leave the tent.

"I need to go over tonight's earning, stay safe, Dick." He said with a small wave, then left.

Dick turned to look at Athena.

"Do you want to go on the trapeze with me?" Athena looked up at the tall pole leading to the platform where the swings were.

"I don't know if I'd be able to." Athena said in a small voice, and Dick chuckled.

"It isn't that hard. I'll show you." He smiled, and Athena smiled back and nodded.

She followed Dick up the latter to the platform and Dick took a hold of the trapeze and easily swung from one ledge to the other, then back to Athena.

"I don't think I can do this." Athena whispered and Dick gave her an encouraging smile.

"Sure you can." Dick grabbed onto the trapeze and handed it to Athena. "Here we'll go together." He gripped the bar around Athena's hands and then pushed off.

Athena felt the wind flying through her hair, and she found it... well she didn't have a word to describe it, but she was loving every second. However, Athena was completely clueless how to get to one swing to the other.

Dick was way ahead of her and quickly wrapped one arm around Athena, and she grasped onto him as he propelled himself, holding her, to the other swing and safely traveled to the other side.

"Fun?" he questioned, Athena nodded happily.

"Lots of fun." She grinned, but then frowned slightly. "Sorry I didn't know how to make the jump."

"No problem. I wasn't expecting you to know how." He looked at the swing then at her. "Wanna go again?" he inquired, and she smiled with excitement.

Dick figured that she'd enjoy the trapeze. However, he didn't expect her to be so fearless. The heights didn't seem to faze her in the slightest.

"Why did you stop doing this?" Athena inquired while they were swinging. Dick made it to the other side and sighed.

"Well, I used to do the trapeze act with my family when I was young. But one day some nasty people made my parents have an accident and they died. I was then adopted by Batman, and I had to live with him." Dick explained.

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that." Athena said sadly, but Dick quickly smiled.

"But it's alright, Athena. I've had a great life." Athena couldn't keep frowning when Dick was smiling.

"Wait, so since Batman adopted you, and he's sort of my Dad, does that make you sort of my brother?" she inquired, and Dick ruffled her hair.

"I guess so. Welcome to the family." He then took off swinging with her again.

They left the circus tent after Dick had another small talk and goodbye to Mr. Haly. The two went back to Dick's motorcycle and Athena smiled as she felt the world pass her in a blur.

They returned to Mt. Justice and Dick put his sun glasses back on as the two walked into the living room.

Conner was in the living room, and Athena ran to him happily.

"Nightwing took me to the Circus! It was amazing!" she exclaimed, still excited. Conner sighed with relief.

"That sounds like fun." He then looked up at Nightwing. "It'd be nice if Nightwing was more clear where he was taking you in his note, though." Conner stated, holding up the hastily written letter he found on the kitchen counter.

_Conner,_

_ Taking Athena out to party. _

_ ~N.W._

"Settle down Super Papa, she's back by curfew." Nightwing chuckled. He then looked at Athena. "But it's been a busy night for you, Athena. You should get some sleep." He informed, and Athena nodded, running up giving him a hug.

"Thank you for taking me to the circus. Goodnight." She smiled, then hugged Conner.

"Good night, Conner." She then ran upstairs to her room.

"Was she okay there?" Conner inquired, and Nightwing nodded.

"She had a blast. Not to mention I found out that she got a thrill gene from someone. She loved the motorcycle ride, and swinging on the trapeze." Nightwing grinned, but then got more serious. "Has there been any new about if the rest of the league is going to try to talk to her?"

"Green Lantern says he'll try to stop by this week. Superman is still fighting off earth, and Aquaman is coming over tomorrow. The rest of the league is just busy." Conner sighed. "Not to mention, Batman has been going over her DNA and he sees a faint trace of some other DNA strand that doesn't match up with anyone from the league." Conner informed. Nightwing raised an eyebrow.

"That's weird. Has he figured out who's DNA it's from?" he inquired.

"No." Conner sighed. "But he's working on it." Conner then grinned slightly. "It's strange to see Batman looking so concerned over a little girl." Nightwing shrugged.

"To be technical, Athena is partially his daughter."

"Still, I wouldn't think of him as a kid person." Conner informed, and Nightwing chuckled. It was his typically 'I know something you don't know' chuckle, and Conner was used to hearing it.

"You don't know Batman very well."


	10. Chapter 10

**Alright, I know this chapter is kind of short and not very important to the plot, but i needed it. Father's day is coming up and i just _needed _to write this chapter. Beware of fluff. **

**Also, thanks to all of you who have been reviewing. for the longest time i only thought like two people were reading this because my e-mail has been eating up my fanfiction stuff, but then i saw the number of reviews and was all "Wait a sec, i never saw those in my inbox" so, THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING SO KIND AND AWESOME!**

**I'm about to thank people so if you don't care just skip the bolded stuff.**

**Scotty1609 had a cute idea that i couldn't just say no to, so thank you scotty for making me squeal with happiness. i like cute things alright. not enough cute things happen in my life. So thank you Scotty1609**

**Thanks to roguelover321 for giving this story a shot**

**thanks imaninja41 for just being amazing (cuz you always are)**

**Thanks to hailyharley for being an awesome stalker**

**thanks cookie for being my baby girl**

**thanks Dextra2 for making me smile and somehow being able to actually get into my e-mail inbox**

**thank you to Ruler of All Sporks for making me smile at your awesome name, and for your review and mention of Squee**

**thank you thebaneofolympus91 for your enthusiasm and colorful vocabulary**

**thank you hybrid301 for mentioning sisterly bonding**

**thank you theshadowwithinyoursoul for cheering me on**

**thank you archergirlxo for wanting to hit La'gaan**

**thank you Sarah-Leigh-Black for also using colorful language  
**

**thank you artistkat for also liking my story even though it has an OC in it**

**thank you musicgal100189 for liking her two mothers**

**thank you AnimeMinder for being the first to review**

**thank you IxHunnaXI for thinking i kept everyone in character**

**thank you ThatOneDiabeticGirl for wishing me luck**

**thank you lolmak for being weird. i love that**

**thank you bookwormstawberry for thinking this was cute**

**thank you I.C. 2014 for asking good questions**

**thank you teenpool for not being mean and pointing out good points**

**thank you Abbie Brown for being a grammar nazi because i know i need to work on grammar and i enoyed how you pointed it out in a polite way YAH CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM! :)**

**thank you Goddess. Of. Souls. for liking how she had a friend at Cadmus**

**thank you lost-my-shoes for thinking it was sweet. i also love your name**

**and thank you CareBearCara101 for your "Cute" s **

**Whew. that was a lot of people and i'm very thankful that you were all kind enough to review and tell me what you thought. if i missed anyone i'm very sorry.**

**So... if you're still reading this, "ON WITH THE CHAPTER!"**

Chpt.10

Athena woke up in the middle of the night, sweat dripping from her forehead and she was shaking.

The girl looked over at Ralph.

"I know, you don't have to tell me, I should have never tried to swim." She whispered.

She dreamed that she was in the ocean again, except there was no one there to pull her out of the water. She was being dragged down by somebody. She couldn't get a good look of his face, but she could see a head of short dark red hair attached to the body dragging her down.

She tried swimming to the surface and trying to get out of the man's hands, but it was no use. She couldn't get out of his grip. She looked down pass the man, and saw that he was dragging her into a white room on the ocean floor. The incinerator room.

Athena was surprised she didn't wake up screaming, but she was still so shaken that she couldn't get back to sleep.

She quietly stood from her bed and walked over to grab her CD player and headphones, grabbing her Elvis CD as well.

_"When you're weary _

_ Feeling small _

_ When tears are in your eyes _

_ I will dry them all"_ Athena smiled slightly, calming down to the sound of The King's deep soothing voice.

_"I'm on your side _

_ When times get rough _

_ And friends just can't be found _

_ Like a bridge over troubled water _

_ I will lay me down _

_ Like a bridge over troubled water _

_ I will lay me down."_

Athena liked this song. Granted, she liked all of Elvis' songs, but she always had a place in her heart for this one. Bridge over troubled water.

Once the song ended she took off her headphones and sighed. Her heart was beating at its normal pace again and her tears were dried.

She laid back in her bed, still awake, but feeling better. She then heard something blast off in the Mountain and she figured that the team was going on a mission somewhere and either took a jet or the Bio ship.

"I hope they'll be alright." Athena whispered. She always worried when they went on Missions. Mainly because they could get hurt, and she didn't want _any _of them getting hurt. Even La'gaan.

She let out a heavy sigh, but sat up when she heard her door open.

"I was just checking up on you. I didn't expect you to be awake." Informed a deep voice, and Athena smiled slightly at the sight of Batman. One of her fathers.

"I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep." She informed. Batman nodded and soundlessly moved to the side of her bed, then sat down on the chair from her desk.

"How has your stay here been? Have you been getting enough sleep and enough to eat?" he questioned, and Athena nodded.

"I like it here. M'gann is an awesome cook, and if I don't get enough sleep, that's mainly my fault." Batman's features were softer when alone with Athena. He still looked serious, but his jaw wasn't tightly clenched like it usually was.

"Have you been having Nightmares?" Batman inquired, and Athena looked down at the ground with a small frown.

"Yes." She whispered, and Batman placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We won't let anything happen to you, Athena. You're safe here with us." He informed in a soft voice. Athena looked up at him and smiled.

"Thank you, Batman." She then giggled. "Nii-san took me to the circus today." Her eyes then widened. "I mean… Nightwing. Nightwing took me to the circus today." She informed quickly, and Batman looked at her with some surprise.

"Did you just speak Japanese?" he questioned, and Athena nodded.

"Sorry. I've been trying to stick with English for a while. I didn't mean to slip." Her voice was very apologetic.

"No, it's alright, Athena." He said calmly. "But, did you call Nightwing brother?" Athena looked down at her lap.

"He told me when we were swinging on the trapeze that you adopted him. And since you're kind of my Dad, that would make him kind of my brother. And also Nightwing was really nice to me, and he reminds me of those nice brothers in books. So I think of him as a brother." She informed.

_Nightwing is the brotherly type._ Batman thought to himself, but then mentally reviewed her sentence.

"Wait, Nightwing took you onto the trapeze?" he inquired, and Athena nodded.

"Yeah, it was a lot of fun, and he made sure not to let me get stuck when hopping swings." She informed casually.

Batman wasn't sure if he liked the fact that Dick decided to throw a little girl on a trapeze, but he was proud how she enjoyed it. He couldn't help feeling proud.

"What else have you been doing around here?" he questioned, and Athena talked all about her stay there. She talked about Mal and the Disney movies, and her love for music, and how she liked Wolf, and how she liked the beach.

Batman listened as the girl talked, and his heart ached slightly. He could mentally hear her voice in the future. He could picture it by just tweaking it slightly, giving it an older tone. Her voice, was the younger voice of his mother's.

Batman didn't care who else was involved. She was still _his _daughter. He was debating with himself whether or not to invite her to stay in the mansion, but he noticed how she talked about the team and the beach, and he knew he couldn't take her away from Mt. Justice. Maybe when she was older, but not when she was still getting used to everything.

As Athena talked, he noticed her yawning, and her eyes blinking slowly.

"Elvis is an amazing singer." She said with a yawn. "His voice is really…" she yawned again. "Nice."

"You should get some rest." Batman said gently, as he pulled the covers up to cover the her body, due to her kicking off the blankets in her Nightmare.

"Thanks for checking up on me." Athena whispered, and then closed her eyes, letting sleep take her away.

Batman silently exited the room, but paused in the door way, whispering,

"That is what Fathers do."


	11. Chapter 11

**AQUAMAN! WHY ARE YOU SO HARD TO WRITE! It frustrates me. *grumbles***

**Sorry for any OOC-ness in this chapter. Aquaman proved to be more difficult then i expected. *sigh* Anyway, please enjoy the story and tell me what you think. **

**I love constructive criticism :)**

**L.L.A.P**

**~Laces**

Chpt.11

Athena was nervous about meeting Aquaman when Conner told her that he would be stopping by. She didn't know how she should act in front of him because he was a _king _and La'gaan always referred to him in a very formal way, and not to mention that he probably knew she couldn't swim. Would he not like her like La'gaan didn't like her because of that?

Conner noticed her shaking slightly as she sat on the couch, stroking Wolf's side.

"Athena, you have nothing to worry about." Conner said gently and Athena looked over at him with worry.

"But what if he doesn't like me, like La'gaan doesn't like me?" she questioned nervously. She had already met Batman, Wonder Woman, and Black Canary, but none of them loved something she absolutely feared.

"Aquaman and La'gaan are _very_ different people." Conner informed. "There's no need for you to be nervous about-"

The computer voice sounded, informing about Aquaman's presence in Mt. Justice.

"Come on." He said gently, and Athena stood from the couch and followed Conner timidly into the room where Aquaman was waiting.

She laid eyes on the tall, muscular blond man. He looked at her with a small smile.

"Hello minnow." He said warmly, and Athena's nerves were slightly put at ease. The way Aquaman called her Minnow somehow didn't seem as condescending as when La'gaan called her it.

"Hello Aquaman." She said, and despite how she was more calm than before, her voice came out in a small squeak.

Aquaman approached the girl, and even though he didn't show it, he was just as nervous as she was. He never had much interaction with a child, and this would be a crash course in being a father. He was going to have to become one sooner or later with the baby on its way.

"Shall we talk outside. I have been told that you enjoy the beach." Athena mutely nodded and followed the man outside, looking behind her shoulder to see Conner staying behind but he gave her an encouraging smile.

As Athena followed the tall Atlantian, he questioned,

"Have you been swimming in the ocean since you got here?" Athena shook her head remorsefully.

"No. I can't swim." She informed, and the King looked at her, baffled.

"Cannot swim? But you are part Atlantian, you have the sea in your blood." He stated and she looked at him sadly.

"I've tried, but every time I have, I came close to drowning." She said with a frown, thinking about the dream she had the night before and cringed.

Aquaman noticed her fear, and questioned,

"Has anyone ever tried to teach you how to swim?" Athena shook her head, and Aquaman smiled.

"Then that is the problem. Nobody can learn how to swim without help." He gently grasped Athena's hand and started to pull her to the water. "I will teach you." He informed.

Athena was wearing shorts and a black t-shirt. It wouldn't be hard for her to swim in, but when Aquaman started to pull her closer and closer to the ocean, she quickly pulled her hand away from his, and backed away slowly.

She was shaking and Aquaman's eyes widened.

"Athena, you have nothing to fear from the water." He informed gently.

"Yes I do." Athena whispered. "I'll drown. I always drown." Aquaman walked over to the girl and knelt in front of her.

"You do not need to go into the water if you do not wish to, Athena." He then sat on the beach, and patted the sand next to him, inviting Athena to take a seat.

"Athena, what do you like about the beach?" he inquired.

"The sun." she answered with a small smile. "I really like the sun."

A small conversation was struck up between the two, and Athena listened to the tales that Aquaman had from Atlantis, and what it was like there.

"It sounds like a beautiful place." Athena whispered. She could only imagine the vivid colors of the ocean coral and fish, and the beautiful underwater city. However, that was Athena's drawback. It was underwater.

"I will take you there some day, when you know how to swim." Aquaman smiled, but Athena frowned.

"I will never be able to swim." She sighed. Aquaman shook his head and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Athena, do not ever tell yourself that you will not be able to do something, just because you cannot do it now." He smiled at her. "And I believe that even though you are afraid of the water now, when you get older, you will be swimming like you have been living in the water for years."

Athena's frown turned into a small smile and she giggled a bit.

"It's going to _take _me years if I am ever going to get the ability of swimming down." Aquaman chuckled, but his communicator sounded.

"I must go." He informed as he stood to his feet, Athena following in suit. "Trouble in Japan, but it has been a pleasure getting to know you."

"You too." She said with a smile, and Aquaman ran off, leaving Athena on the beach.

She looked out at the ocean. The more she looked at it, the more it seemed to scare her. It scared her, because it looked so beautiful, as if it were tempting her to just take a step in. However, she knew that if she did, she could and would drown.

"One day I'll learn how to swim." she whispered, but shook slightly when she heard a wave crash loudly against the sand. "… just not today."

Athena made her way back inside, but as she started to enter the room, she bumped into Blue Beetle.

"Hola Amiga." He smiled, helping her up to her feet.

"Hola." She giggled. She picked up whatever little pieces of Spanish Blue Beetle would say fairly easily.

"Did you talk to Aquaman today?" he inquired, and Athena sighed.

"Yeah. He tried to teach me how to swim, but I was too afraid to get into the water." She informed, but Blue Beetle gave her a warm smile.

"Don't dwell much on it, Chica. It's-"

"Team! Meeting in the Mission room _now_!" Nightwing exclaimed with urgency, and Blue Beetle went flying off.

Athena stayed in place. This had happened before, and she knew that when there was a mission, she was to stay out of the way for everyone to run where they needed to be.

Athena walked upstairs to her room, and sat on the bed tiredly, despite the fact that she had just gotten up a few hours ago.

"When you walk through a storm hold your head up high

And don't be afraid of the dark." She found herself singing softly. She seemed to always have an Elvis song in her song.

However, she quickly stopped singing, and walked downstairs with Ralph in tow. She headed back out to the beach, and stood in front of the ocean.

It bugged her how she felt like a failure all the time. She was angry that she was letting her fear get the best of her and she never felt the emotion of anger very often.

_"You CANNOT be thinking about going in there again!" _Ralph exclaimed, and Athena shook her head, placing the bear on the spot where she stood.

"I'm not going to. I'm going to take small steps, Ralph. But I don't want you getting wet, so wait here for me, okay?" she questioned.

_"Okay. Just stay safe." _Athena slowly made her way closer to the water, and then stood where she saw the waves slowly licking at the sand, and stood still.

Her hair stood on end when the water fizzed and passed her feet, and she squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for something horrible to happen.

And then, the water pulled back out to the ocean, not pulling her with it.

She opened her eyes and watched as the cool water receded, and then it came back up, lightly rushing around her ankles.

She felt joy swell up in her stomach, and she turned around to look at Ralph.

"I DID IT RALPH!" she exclaimed happily. "I did it! I-I'm not a failure. I can do this!"

Athena didn't have time to realize her feet weren't touching the ground. She was knocked unconscious before she was able to realize she was floating.


	12. Chapter 12

**Please enjoy and tell me what you think :)**

**L.L.A.P**

**~Laces**

Chpt.12

When Athena woke up, she felt very warm. The warmth wasn't uncomfortable, but it wasn't the same warmth that the sun provided.

She slowly blinked her eyes open and frowned at her surroundings. Nothing looked familiar to Mt. Justice.

She was lying on a soft bed that was strewn with multiple pillows, and a warm thick blanket was lying on top of her.

_What happened? _She thought as she sat up. She felt a small stinging in her neck and brought her hand up. She winced at a small spot on her neck where it felt like a dark sunk into her skin.

_Where am I?_ she slid out of her bed, and stood to her feet. The room was very extravagant, just like the bed, but at the same time it was empty. The bed had many warm autumn colors like dark brown, burgundy, deep orange, and tan. The walls were the same, and the fabric on the bed seemed to be soft silk and other types of expensive looking materials. And on the ceiling…

"Is that a chandelier?" she questioned in a whisper. Athena's eyes settled on the door, and she immediately made her way to it.

She didn't care where she was, she just wanted to get back home.

Athena easily opened the door, and stepped out into a dark lit hallway. One of Mal's Disney movies suddenly came to mind, and the halls reminded her almost of the castle in Beauty and the Beast. Dark and old, but still ornate.

"You're up earlier than expected." Athena jumped in surprise at the voice. However, she didn't come back down.

She floated in the air, and started panicking.

"W-what's going on? What's happening?" she questioned in a high voice, frantically kicking her legs, trying to get down.

"You are flying, young one." The voice that startled Athena stated calmly, and she felt a hand grab her foot, and pull her down.

Athena was shaking and she looked up at the man who pulled her down. He had dark tan skin, black and white hair, and a black mustache. His grip was so strong on her shoulder that she couldn't step further away from him.

"Who are you?" Athena questioned timidly. The man slowly released his grip on the girl, and took a bow.

"I am Ra's Al Ghul." He informed with a kind smile, but Athena still wasn't very sure what to think of him. "And currently, you are in my home."

Athena fiddled with her hands nervously.

"I noticed a dart mark on my neck." She stated. "Did you knock me out, and take me here?" she questioned, and Ra's nodded.

"I wasn't the one who personally knocked you out with the dart, but I did give the order." Athena was grateful that her kidnapper was so cooperative when answering questions. All his answers seemed very sincere.

"Why did you take me away from my home?" Athena inquired.

"Perhaps we should talk in the dining hall. You must be hungry." Ra's said politely. He turned around, and started walking off to the dining hall, knowing that Athena would follow.

She did, but when she reached her hand out to grasp his, she pulled it back. Athena had a gut feeling that he wasn't someone she wanted to hold onto. Her heart ached slightly when she thought of the people whose hands she did want to hold at the moment.

Conner, Dick, Cassie, Gar, Mal, Blue Beetle, Aquaman, M'gann, Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Wolf, Robin, Batman.

The names and faces flashed through her head and she immediately wanted to be back at Mt. Justice.

She wanted to pet Wolf again. She wanted to watch Disney movies with Mal, and learn random Spanish from Blue Beetle. She wanted to hold Cassie's hand and listen to music with her. She wanted to laugh at Gar's jokes and learn about all the crazy animals he could turn into. She wanted to take up Aquaman's offer to teach her how to swim. She wanted to hang out more with Wonder Woman and Black Canary. She wanted to cook with M'gann more. She wanted to follow Robin around and try to understand the random codes he used to hack into computers. She wanted to swing around on the trapeze again with Dick, and ride on his motorcycle. She wanted Batman to tell her that everything was going to be okay. She wanted Conner to just… give her a hug.

Athena reached the dining hall with Ra's. It was huge and seemed to match the same colors of the halls. Dark but decretive.

"Please, have a seat." Ra's stated, pulling out a seat for the girl, and she sat, feeling that it might be disrespectful if she denied the man.

He took the seat next to hers and a bald muscular man with a tight shirt and loose pants walked out and placed a plate of salad in front of Athena and Ra's along with two glasses of deep red wine.

"Excuse me?" Athena said in a small voice, looking at the strong bald man. "I'm sorry, but I think I'm not old enough for wine." She informed, and Ra's chuckled.

"Ubu, can you please get our guest a glass of water?" he questioned, and with a bow, the man quickly went to do so.

"Please, eat." Ra's smiled, and Athena looked down at the salad timidly, but looked up to see that Ra's had taken a bite out of his salad. A shaky hand took a fork and she took a bite of a tomato and a piece of lettuce.

"Thank you for the food." Athena said with a small smile, but she felt like the smile was forced. She was truly frightened about what was going to happen to her.

"I trust that it is to your liking?" he questioned, and Athena nodded.

"Yes, Sir."

"You want to know why I took you here?" he added, and Athena nodded again.

"Yes, Sir." She felt so formal, but she felt like she needed to be due to the fancy meal, elaborate building, and the way Ra's spoke.

"I originally had my men take you so that I could bring you to Dr. Milo for you to be killed, and I could make a handsome amount of money." He informed, and Athena felt her hair stand on end and immediately wanted to run and hide. Instead of doing either, she started to float off of the seat.

Athena grabbed the seat to keep herself down, but she was shaking more now.

"P-please. I can't go back to Dr. Milo. I don't want to die, Mr. Al Ghul. I haven't done anything wrong." She whispered frantically.

"Settle down young one." Ra's said calmly. "I thought that I'd be giving Dr. Milo the failed project that he wanted to kill. However, you seem to not be such a failure now." He stated as he looked at her hands that were tightly gripping her seat to keep her from floating to the ceiling.

"You have _purpose_,Project Power. I cannot give you over to be killed now that you have purpose." He informed, and she flinched at the name.

"Athena." She whispered, and Ra's raised an eyebrow.

"Athena?" he questioned.

"My name. It's Athena. It's not Project Power. It's Athena." She informed quickly. Ra's smiled slightly.

"A young Goddess." He stated. "A Young Goddess the partial daughter to the Detective." Athena didn't know what he was talking about, however, she was too concerned about getting home.

"Mr. Al Ghul?" she questioned. "Am I ever going to go back home?"

"Back home? You never had a home. A home is a place where you can call it your own, and be completely safe." He stated.

"But…"

"You will be staying here, to practice your abilities, since you obviously have no control over them." Ra's informed, and Athena shook her head.

"Abilities? All I can do is float. And I don't want to be here. I want to be home with Superboy, and Blue Beetle, and Nightwing, and Batman…"

"Do you honestly think that any of them really cared for you?" he questioned calmly, despite how Athena was close to hysterics.

"Of course they did! They are so nice! They care for me and keep me safe!" she exclaimed, and Ra's cocked his brow up.

"Like they kept you safe from me taking you?" he questioned.

"They- they couldn't help it! They were busy with a mission, saving people!" she exclaimed, standing from her seat, but having no idea where to go.

"But if they really loved you, at least one of them would stay behind to watch you. Isn't that right?" Ra's questioned, his voice dripping with innocence, but behind it all, he knew that he was slowly getting to her.

"It… they… it's not their fault! They're busy!" Athena sputtered.

"Too busy for you? Someone they claim to love? You haven't even met the rest of the league, have you? They have been too busy, right?"

"They need to save the world. It's not their fault." She stated firmly, but it was in a whisper.

"Not even a phone call from outer space. For people who apparently care for you, they seem to neglect you." Ra's said calmly, but Athena shook her head.

"There is no neglect! They love me! It's not their fault they're busy! I've talked to them! Not all of them, but they care for me! I know they do!"

Ra's saw his opening.

"They have talked to you, have they? Like how your bear talks to you? I think you do not understand that it is all in your head. You are mentally unhealthy, young goddess. None of them ever said they loved you. The entire time you spent with them, you have been completely alone."

"No!" Athena shouted. "They love me! They care for me! It's not in my head! It's not!"

"Then why are you crying?" Athena brought her hand up to her face and felt her tears. She was silent then, as she quietly sobbed, sinking to the floor.

Ra's stood from his seat, bent down and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Come along, Young Goddess. You should rest." Ra's stated, but Athena didn't move. "Or, you could stay here." Ra's nodded. "Whatever makes you _happy_." He whispered. Ra's walked out of the room, but he couldn't hide the pleased smile on his face.

It was a smile that someone would give when they made the right move in a chess game.

But Athena saw it.


	13. Chapter 13

**It's been awhile since i wrote for Ra's. Please tell me if there is anything wrong. Constructive criticism is appreciated :)**

**I hope you enjoy! :)**

**L.L.A.P**

**~Laces **

Chpt.13

"This is… strange." Nightwing muttered when the random attack on Gotham city seemed to come to a halt. They were people of the shadows who just came out and started harming civilians. Not just in Gotham, but in Central City, Star City, Metropolis, Hub City, and other various places.

After about a half hour of the fighting, the men in the shadows just vanished. It was eerie, to say the least.

"Uh… what just happened?" Gar inquired, looking over at M'gann. They were in Hub City.

"They seemed to have… retreated." She answered.

"But why?" Conner questioned, and M'gann's attention turned to one of the men she had knocked out.

"I know I can find out." She stated, staring at the man. Conner made a low grunt of disapproval, but that didn't stop M'gann from getting the information.

"He is part of the league of Shadows. His master is Ra's Al Ghul. All he was told was to cause mass hysteria in cities, then, once given a signal, to hide in the shadows and retreat." M'gann informed.

"So… this was a distraction?" Gar questioned, and Conner nodded.

"Seems like it."

"But why?" Gar inquired, and before anyone could answer, Nightwing's voice sounded in their mental link.

_"Team. Head back to Mt. Justice. There's nothing more we can do."_

~*~*~*~*~At Mt. Justice~*~*~*~*~

"Has anyone seen Athena?" Conner questioned after looking around the Mountain.

"The little minnow is probably hiding." La'gaan shrugged, and then turned back to M'gann, who he was kissing.

However, she seemed more interested in what Conner was saying than making out.

"I checked her usually hiding places, and she hasn't hid from us in weeks. I thought she was just starting to get comfortable." Conner explained.

"I'm not sensing her anywhere." M'gann informed as she did a mental sweep of the Mountain simultaneously moving away from La'gaan.

"Do you think she went outside?" Gar questioned, and the three quickly sprinted to the door, leaving La'gaan behind, since he had no real care for the girl.

Conner's eyes widened when he saw Ralph in the sand. Athena wouldn't simply leave Ralph behind for anything, and if she did, she always made sure he was safe in her room.

Conner picked up the Teddy bear and looked at M'gann and Gar.

"This is bad." Gar whispered. Athena was kidnapped right when they were all away from her.

The three sprinted inside to Nightwing. The former Robin's heart sunk the moment he saw their worried faces, and Conner holding Athena's teddy bear.

"Athena's been taken."

~*~*~*~*~Elsewhere~*~*~*~*~

Once she was done sobbing, instead of going to the room she woke up in, she ran around the building looking for some sort of way out. Unfortunately, all the windows she came to on the ground floor were locked and when she looked out of the higher windows, she realized that the building was surrounded by the ocean.

Sure, She was now not afraid to stick her feet into the water, but she was far from being able to swim in it without help.

Feeling helpless and scared, she did the thing she often did her first week at Mt. Justice.

Athena walked around the large building, looking for a place to hide. Her eyes settled on a wardrobe and she quietly stepped inside.

She mentally thought of The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe, and had a faint hope that maybe the back of the wardrobe would lead her to a magical land, or better yet, home.

But no. It was only filled with old jackets and clothing. She pushed herself to the very back , hiding behind the cloths and soaking in the darkness. To be honest, she missed the sun.

She heard steady footsteps and held her breath, holding as still as she could.

She felt scared. Almost just as scared as she was when she lived at Cadmus, except there she had Ralph. In the dark wardrobe, she had absolutely no one.

She could hear the footsteps getting closer to the wardrobe, the heals making a soft _click _on the ground.

Athena squeezed her eyes shut as she heard the steps getting closer and closer. And then she heard the wardrobe door open. She remained still with her eyes squeezed as tightly as she could get them. She hoped that maybe if she stayed still and didn't see who opened the wardrobe, they wouldn't see her.

Unfortunately a pair of hands pulled her out of the closet, and she slowly opened her eyes to see Ra's Al Ghul.

"Young Goddess, you will not always be able to hide." He informed, placing her on the ground next to him, then closed the wardrobe. "And, you cannot easily hide from me." he added.

"I don't want to be here." Athena stated, and Ra's smiled at her.

"Poor Athena. You are confused." He knelt in front of her. "You _do_ want to be here. It's safe and loving here." He stated calmly.

"No…"

"Yes, Athena." Ra's Al Ghul kissed the top of her head and held out his hand to her. His gaze settled on her, waiting for her to take his hand.

"No." she whispered, taking a step away from him. She held her own hand tightly, drawling into herself.

Ra's calmly, but firmly grasped her arm and pulled her into the room she woke up in.

"Tomorrow we will work on your powers." Ra's stated with finality, shutting the door close. Athena sat on the bed, and looked up at the ceiling.

_He keeps saying powers, plural, but all I can do is float. And I don't want to work on floating! I want to go home! _She wanted to cry again, but an idea popped into her mind.

"Conner, Superboy, I miss you. Please help me. It's me, Athena. Conner, Superboy, I miss you. Please help me. It's me, Athena. Conner, Superboy, I miss you. Please help me. It's me, Athena. Conner…"

She kept repeating the sentence like a prayer. Maybe if Conner was listening he could hear her. Maybe.

Unfortunately, as she continued to do so, a voice in her head that sounded like Ra's kept whispering that Conner didn't care.

~*~*~*~*~At Mt. Justice~*~*~*~*~

While Dick, Robin (Tim), and Mal worked on the computers, trying to pick up a trace of Athena, Conner had his eyes closed, trying to shift through the voices billions of people, looking for one single voice. He had been at it for four hours.

He was bent on looking for Athena's voice.

Due to that, everyone was quiet in Mt. Justice, and they talked telepathically.

_"sssw fie oower wine dinu gwdic fhefr __**Conner**__ eifwer iwebhf __**Athena**__ efhflf __**Superboy **__qdlflo __**help**__ dgflgjnfr __**miss **__efbiergf __**me**__ rilghg __**Conner, Superboy**__ diflfv ewlb sohf iwbjbd lhdjnf __**help me**__ defi aikhf dkjhrfi linfg djeo __**it's me**__ ejfkrg kjhrie dsgjrton wsoenf __**Conner, Superboy, I miss you.**__ Rieb riugh eikiltfr iebhjf __**Please help me**__. fohrlbh eifhnf woefr __**it's me, Athena**__. Elghbfjr fiffdf __**Conner, Superboy. I miss you. Please help me. It's me, Athena**__." _

"I hear her." Conner whispered, and everyone looked at him.

"What is she saying?" Cassie questioned.

"She's saying, Conner, Superboy. I miss you. Please help me. It's me, Athena." He stated, then shook his head. "God, she sounds so scared."

"Can you hear anything about her surroundings?" Dick questioned, and Conner grunted. Being able to hold her voice wasn't easy, but he was thankful that at least she was still alive.

"I can try." He closed his eyes and focused on her voice, then tried to listen to her surroundings.

"I hear… waves… and a man's voice is close to her. It's deep… he has a bit of an accent…"

_" sdfjf __**the girl**__ sdfwfj __**difficult**__ efibjkcel disfcbikv fciv dofnjnls __**I will**__ efkh __**Cadmus**__ werfnefil hbj."_ Conner took in a deep breath and tried to focus on the man's voice. _"__**I will convince her that she is mentally unstable, Ubu. I want you to go in and ask her if she wants anything to eat? Wait ten minutes then go in and ask her again. If she says that she already told you, tell her that you never set foot into the room before. Plant it in her head that she has problems. Start out with subtle things and it will drive her into my guidance. Soon the league of Shadows will have an unstable weapon.**__" _

_"__**As you wish, Master**__." _

_"__**Conner, Superboy, I miss you. Please help me. It's me, Athena**__."_

Conner looked up at Dick.

"The man wants to make Athena think she's crazy. He was talking to a guy called Ubu, and he mentioned the league of shadows…"

"Ra's Al Ghul." Dick stated. "Then the attack makes sense. Ra's used the league of Shadows as a distraction while he kidnapped her." Dick then hit a button on the computer, connecting it to Batman. "Batman, Ra's has her. He's near water, but that's all we know so far."

"Keep me informed." Batman's voice stated, then signed out. The attack made sense to Dick, but at the same time, he wondered why Ra's would go through all that trouble in order to get to Athena. Unless he had some connections to Cadmus.

Gar looked over at Conner with concern.

"Are you okay?" he questioned.

"She keeps repeating the same sentence over and over saying she misses me and she wants help. She sounds so scared. I just want to comfort her, somehow." He informed in a whisper.

"We'll find her, Conner." Gar said gently.

"I don't like waiting." Conner stated. "I want to find her as soon as possible. She's scared and the Ra's guy wants to use her as a weapon. I don't like it."

~*~*~*~*~Elsewhere~*~*~*~*~

"Conner, Superboy, I miss you. Please help me. It's me, Athe-"

"Would you like something to eat?" Ubu inquired, peaking his head into the room.

"No, thank you." Athena whispered, and Ubu closed the door. She then continued to whisper, "Conner, Superboy, I miss you. Please help me. It's me, Athena." She just hoped that he could hear her somehow.

Several minutes passed and Ubu peaked his head into the room once again.

"Would you like something to eat?" he inquired.

"Once again, no thank you." Athena stated with a hint of irritation in her voice. She was tired from chanting over and over again, but she didn't want to give up. Ubu raised an eyebrow, looking at her puzzled.

"I am afraid I do not understand what you mean by saying, 'Once again.'" he informed, and Athena tilted her head to the side.

"You asked me what I wanted a few minutes ago." She said in a small voice, and Ubu shook his head.

"I have not stepped foot into the room until now, young one." he informed seriously. Athena's eyes widened.

"Don't lie to me." she stated sternly, trying to sound intimidating, but ended up sounding more scared.

"I am not lying. I did not say anything to you prior to this moment." Ubu stated, his voice never wavering. He then closed the door leaving Athena by herself once again.

_I imagined him? Did I imagine her? I couldn't have. It was so… real. But… he seemed so sure. _Athena shook her head, trying to shake her fears out of her head. She did not want to believe that she was mentally unstable.

"Conner, Superboy, I miss you. Please help me. It's me, Athena. Conner…" As Athena continued to chant, her brain was going through the possibilities of her imagining things, including her stay at Mt. Justice.


	14. Chapter 14

**Sorry for the delay. Life got a tad busy, and this chapter was a bit hard to write. Thank you to Musicgal100189 for pointing something out. So, i'm taking slight author authority over this, but let's say Aquaman did have his son and the reason why he was a bit awkward with Athena was because he only has a boy child and no interaction with girl children... and let's throw in there that he probably has another kid on the way. Yeah sorry for the continuity fail . *sigh* anyways... on with the story!**

**L.L.A.P**

**~Laces **

Chpt.14

_"I found where Ra's is hiding." _Batman's voice came through, and Conner went straight towards the computer where the voice originated.

"If he's on his way to get her, I'm coming along." He stated firmly. Dick's gaze went from Conner to the computer.

"Did you hear that, Batman?" he questioned.

"Affirmative. Tell Superboy to wait outside on the beach for the Bat-jet. I need his hearing." Batman stated gruffly, and Dick was surprised by the elder's decision. Batman was often very firm about doing things solo.

However, Conner could care less if Batman wasn't acting completely like himself, and headed outside.

The Bat-jet was quickly in front of him, and he jumped into the cockpit of the jet. He was greeted by Batman's intense stare, and the jet jerked into action again, flying as fast as it could.

"I thought I told you to look after her." Batman stated in a cold voice, and Conner glared at the man.

"You were the one who called everyone to help with the random attacks." Conner retorted, and Batman was silent for a few moments.

"Can you hear her?" he questioned, and Conner sighed.

"I did, but she fell asleep." He informed. His mind went to her small voice, and how she kept repeating the chant until she slowly drifted away, her voice getting more softer and slurred until it was completely gone.

"We should be getting there soon. I don't like what Ra's might be doing to her."

"Last I heard was that he was trying to get her to think that she was mentally unstable so she would be more driven to get help from Ra's and he would then use her as a weapon. But I don't understand why, because Athena's a failed project… unless Ra's doesn't know about it." Conner rambled.

The main reason for his talking was so he could get his mind off of all the terrible things that could be happening to Athena. If he tried to focus on what he knew he _heard_ he could distract his imagination from running wild. Nowhere in his imagination said that Athena was alright.

~*~*~*~*~Elsewhere~*~*~*~*~

Athena slowly rose from her bed to see someone in the doorway.

"Conner?" He stepped fully into the room, and Athena smiled brightly, running into his arms, holding him tight.

"Conner! I missed you! And I was so scared. I thought I was never going to see you again!" she held onto Conner as tight as she could.

"It's great to see you too, safe." He stated, holding her close in a hug.

Athena's head rested on his chest, and she listened for his heartbeat, but… she couldn't find it.

"Conner… your heartbeat…" she looked up but noticed that she was holding and hugging Ra's Al Ghul.

"Conner?"

"Having another hallucination again?" he questioned, and she quickly struggled out of his grip, backing away.

"No… no I didn't hallucinate anyone." Athena stated, however it sounded uncertain. Ra's skin quickly turned green and he morphed into La'gaan.

"Are you sure about that little minnow?" he questioned, then morphed into Cassie. Athena was used to Cassie smiling at her friendly, but this Cassie looked at her with mockery. "You heard the conversations Cadmus had about you." Cassie shrunk and morphed into Gar.

"They kept saying that the main reason you probably failed was because of your terrible mental health." Gar Morphed into M'gann.

"They heard you talking to your bear. They knew you had problems." M'gann then turned into Blue Beetle, who said in a taunting voice,

"And you _do_ have many problems. Don't you?" Blue Beetle turned into Black Canary. The woman looked at Athena with a taunting manner.

"You feel scared." Black Canary laughed, then turned into Dick, who shared the same spiteful smile as Black Canary.

"You feel _lost_." Dick turned into Aquaman.

"You feel confused." Aquaman turned into Wonder Woman.

"You feel alone." And then Wonder Woman turned into Batman.

"And you will _always _be alone."

"NO!" Athena screamed. Her eyes flew open, and she looked around the room, sweat dripping from her forehead and small tears prickling her eyes.

She observed the room quickly and realized that she was still in the room Ra's assigned to her, surrounded by many pillows.

"No." she whispered, shaking slightly. She wanted to be back in Mt. Justice. She wanted all of this to be some sort of nightmare, like the one she had just had. But no. it was still real. The door swung opened to reveal Ra's Al Ghul.

"Did you just scream, Young Goddess?" he inquired, but Athena didn't say anything to respond. However, her entire body went ridged at his presence.

"I expect you to answer me when I ask you a question." Ra's stated, moving closer to the girl. Athena tried to look away from him, but the man griped the bottom of her chin, forcing her to look up at him. "Understood?" his cold green eyes were staring at her harshly.

"Y-yes." She whispered, and Ra's released her chin.

"Good, girl." He smiled. "Now, did you scream several moments ago?" Athena nodded, hugging her knees, trying to comfort herself and simultaneously close herself off from Ra's.

"Why did you scream?" he questioned with concern. A long pause went between the two, and Ra's' eyes went from gentle to harsh again.

"I just had a bad dream." Athena whispered. "It's nothing."

"You screamed fairly loud for it to be simply nothing." Ra's stated and Athena shrugged, averting her eyes from the man to an empty space on the wall.

"Ubu told me about how you hallucinated him walking into your room." Ra's said in a soft voice.

"I didn't hallucinate him!" Athena exclaimed, glaring at Ra's. Athena wasn't used to feeling so much hatred and anger towards one man.

Ra's Al Ghul continued to keep his calm composure, as the girl seemed to be breaking down. She was shaking again, running her hands through her hair.

"Athena, you are mentally not well. Let me help you." He said gently.

"I don't want your help! I don't need help!" she exclaimed as she started to float again. "I just want to go home! I want to see Superboy! And Nightwing! And Batman! And _everyone_! I didn't hallucinate them! I couldn't have! I _know_ that when Ralph is talking to me… it's me! There, I said it! Ralph is me! I speak for Ralph, no matter how much I want to pretend he is another person, he isn't! Cadmus is wrong! There is nothing wrong with me mentally!"

Ra's listened as the girl shouted, and then simply shook his head.

"I can see you are still confused, but when you are ready to accept the truth, I will be here for you. Unlike the league, I _will_ be there to help you, and to comfort you." Ra's informed as he gently pulled Athena down from the air, and then left the room, the door softly closing behind him.

"I'm not crazy." Athena whispered. "I'm not crazy. I'm not crazy. I'm not crazy." She felt so empty. She needed something to comfort her. _Someone_. But she didn't want to go to Ra's. He was the one who took her away from her home, whether she was imagining things or not.

"Elvis." She whispered. "If you were around, you'd be there to comfort me, right?" she questioned to no one.

"When you're weary

Feeling small

When tears are in your eyes

I will dry them all" Athena whispered, trying to sing despite the lump in her throat from her wanting to cry.

"I-I'm on your side

When timessss g-et rough

And friends just… can't be found

Like a bridge o-over troubled water

I will lay me down

Like a bridge over… troubled water

I w-will lay me… down." Athena couldn't hold in her tears any longer and she started to sob.

~*~*~*~*~In the Bat-jet~*~*~*~*~

"We're here." Batman stated, stopping the jet over a building. Conner and Batman leaped from the jet and landed on the top of the building. Batman turned to look at the younger man.

"Can you hear Ra's?" he questioned. Conner focused on trying to find the immortal's voice. Searching for the older sounding voice, that was very distinctive.

"I can hear him talking to a servant." Conner informed. "I think he just asked for wine."

"Can you give me a direction?" Batman questioned, and Conner pointed to the right, where he could hear the voice coming from.

"He's somewhere on that side of the building." Conner stated, and Batman nodded.

"I'm going after Ra's. You look for Athena." He instructed, then stealthily ran down the side of the building Conner pointed to, and snuck in through a window.

Conner listened for Athena, and he could hear a small voice crying. Conner immediately went to the window where Batman went through, and ran through the hallways as quiet as possible, searching for where he was hearing the voice.

He hated hearing the sobbing, and it was breaking his heart with every small hiccup he heard from her.

Conner then came across a door and he _knew _that was where the crying was coming from.

"Athena!" Conner exclaimed as he opened the door, and the little girl was sitting on a bed, hugging a pillow. Her long black hair was over her face, and she looked terrified when she saw him, her green and blue eyes wide.

"Please… t-tell me you're real." Athena whispered, and Conner ran up to her and picked her up, holding her tightly.

"I'm real, Athena. I'm real. It's me, Conner." He whispered, hugging her tightly. "Shhh, it's alright. You're going to be fine." Athena rested her head on his chest and heard Conner's strong heartbeat.

She smiled, knowing that she wasn't hallucinating. That heartbeat was all she needed to hear to know it was him.

However, she felt herself get torn away from him, and she heard a loud grunt of pain. Ubu had torn her away from Conner while punching him in the gut.

"Superboy!" Athena exclaimed as Ubu continued to use his quick strikes and movements to attack the clone. Ubu was one of Ra's best trained assassins, and his skill showed. To her horror, Athena saw Ubu drawl a dagger from his belt.

"NO!"

~*~*~*~*~In Ra's Al Ghul's Main Quarters~*~*~*~*~

"Ah, Detective." Ra's said with a small smile when Batman entered the room. "I expected to see you sooner."

"_Why_ Ra's? What do you gain from taking her?" Batman questioned in a gruff voice.

"Project Power, you mean?" he questioned with a wry smile. "Why, I needed her for money at first. Cadmus has a large bounty on her, and I was planning to gain lost profits." He informed.

"So why didn't you Ra's? I _know_ she is still here." Batman stated, and Ra's raised an eyebrow.

"You know that she is here, and yet you come to talk to me first? I must say, I'm flattered." Ra's informed, and Batman glared at him.

"Stop dodging the question, Ra's. What do you want from Athena, and why didn't you hand her over to Cadmus?" he growled.

"Well, I _was _going to give her to Cadmus for them to kill her. However, I realized she wasn't such a failure that Cadmus thought she was." Batman's eyes widened.

"What did you _do _to her, Ra's?"

"Do to her? Why, Detective, absolutely nothing. However, I planned for her to be a very powerful assassin once I started training her, and I still intend for that to happen." Ra's grinned. "I saw your jet coming on my computer monitors, and Ubu is currently taking care of whatever partner you brought along to take Project Power back as we speak. After he has disposed of your partner, he will take the girl to another location. You will not find her, Detective. I will make _sure_ of that."

"You underestimate her. She will not go to you."

"She is a _child_, Detective. She can be easily manipulated." Batman slowly backed away from Ra's, back to the doorway.

"I think you're wrong. However, I doubt it will be much of a problem for you to worry about." He stated, then disappeared into the shadows.

Ra's wasn't going to battle him or follow. He was confident that he had Athena. There was no need to fight Batman, when he was going to soon have the most powerful weapon in the world.

~*~*~*~*~In Athena's Given Room~*~*~*~*~

It was all in slow motion for Athena. Conner looked disoriented, Ubu pulled the knife out of his belt, and she let out a loud 'No' as the knife plummeted towards Conner's chest.

She wanted Ubu to be gone, to just get away from Conner.

Suddenly she was floating, and Ubu was pushed back by some invisible force, and Conner got to his feet, and quickly knocked Ubu out.

"Athena…" he whispered, looking at the girl in shock. She was floating in the air, but looked terrified.

She didn't know how Conner was going to react to what she has just done. To be completely honest, she was completely clueless how she had even done it.

"He… he was going to hurt you. I-I didn't mean… please don't be mad at me, I didn't know…" Conner ran over to Athena and pulled her to his chest, hugging her tightly.

"It's alright, Athena. We'll take about it when we get back. We're going home." He stated, and then ran with her in his arms back to the Bat-jet.

Once they reached the jet, Batman was already waiting for them.

"Get in, hurry." Conner jumped into the jet, Batman not having to tell him twice, and they sped off away from the island.

Athena looked to the front seat where Batman was sitting, then up at Conner.

"Please tell me this is all real." Athena whispered, and Conner nodded.

"It is real, Athena, and you're okay."


	15. Chapter 15

**Sorry i have some writers block and things are starting to get busy again. Please enjoy and tell me what you think :)**

**L.L.A.P**

**~Laces**

Chpt.15

Athena was silent throughout the ride back to Mt. Justice. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her ear was on Conner's chest, listening to his heartbeat. It soothed her, and confirmed that he was real. Not to mention, she was afraid that if she did open her eyes, she'd be in the arms of Ra's and not Conner.

Conner gently rubbed her back. He could feel her shaking, and was trying to get her to calm down. He wanted to ask her what Ra's did to her during her stay, but he didn't want to bring up the topic at the moment. He was sure that that was one of the last things Athena wanted to talk about.

The jet slowed down and landed on the top of Mt. Justice. Conner jumped out of the cockpit along with Batman, and continued to hold Athena.

"Superboy, give Athena to me. I need to talk to her." Batman stated, and despite Conner's reluctance, the clone gently passed the girl to Batman, who she clutched onto equally as tight. Batman shot him a look, and Conner ran downstairs to tell the team that they were able to rescue Athena, giving Batman some privacy with the girl.

"Athena, what happened?" Batman questioned, and the girl looked down at the ground. However, unlike Ra's, Batman did nothing to reprimand her for her silence.

"Did he hurt you?" he questioned with concern.

"N-no. Well, not physically." She informed in a small voice.

"Physically? What other way did he hurt you, Athena?" he inquired in a soft voice.

"He told me…" Athena's shaking seemed to increase as tears streaked her face. "He t-told me that you were all in my head. That I imagined all of you caring for me. That I had mental problems. That I was crazy." Athena looked so scared. "I don't want to be crazy, Batman. But… am I?" she inquired, and Batman shook his head.

"No. No you are not crazy, Athena. You are just… trying to adjust from what you have come from. I can only imagine what you went through while at Cadmus, but in all scenarios, it is hard to simply walk away from years of living in such a horrible place like it was nothing." Batman took in a deep breath.

"Athena, I know you enjoy it here, but I want you to live with me." he informed. "I promise you that you can visit here whenever you want, I have a transporter in my batcave that goes from there to here."

"But, why…"

"Ra's knows where you live, Athena. I don't want you to still be in danger if you live here." Batman explained, and Athena looked hesitant.

"But… Conner…"

"I'll make sure that you can still see him. You can still spend your days here, but I just want you to be living someplace safer, that Ra's Al Ghul doesn't know about." Batman explained.

"I don't like that man." Athena whispered, thinking of Ra's Al Ghul, who tormented her with mental warfare, making her feel scared and helpless.

"Not many people do." Batman informed gently. Athena sighed, and questioned in a small voice,

"So… I will still be able to see Conner? And everyone else?" Batman nodded.

"Yes." Batman understood how this was most likely very rough for her, considering she was just kidnapped and now he was trying to get her to move. He just didn't want Ra's to get to her again.

"Do you promise that I will still be able to see them?" Athena questioned seriously.

"I promise." Batman affirmed, and Athena looked down at her feet.

"Okay. I'll go." She whispered and Batman wrapped his arms around the girl.

"I'm sorry, Athena." he whispered, and the girl didn't reply. She only hugged him back, burying her head in his chest.

Batman carried the girl downstairs, where all the team was waiting for her.

Cassie quickly took the girl out of Batman's hands and was hugging her tightly.

"We missed you so much!" she exclaimed, and Athena smiled when she saw all of the team.

"I missed you all too." She informed.

Conner walked over to Batman while the team was talking to her.

"Athena is going to live with me." Batman stated before the clone could say anything. "I promised her that she can visit here whenever she wants, but she will be living with me. I can't risk Ra's getting her again, now that he knows where she lives." He explained. Conner wanted to protest, but he saw Batman's reasoning and knew that it was for Athena's good.

"She has developed several abilities." Conner informed, and Batman gave him a look that demanded more answers. "When I went to get her out of the room that Ra's Al Ghul had her in, I was attacked by one of Ra's' men. He was about to stab me, but Athena just… I don't know. She pushed him away similar to M'gann's telekinesis. And she was _floating_."

"What happened afterwards?" Batman questioned.

"She seemed scared. She thought I was mad at her and kept saying sorry, and I had to pull her down from the air." Conner explained, and looked over at Athena with a small frown. "I don't think she knows how to control what she does."

"We'll help her with that." Batman stated. "But we'll take it slow. Ra's was talking to me, and he was right. She is _not_ a failed project."

"Do you think she'll get more abilities?" Conner questioned, looking over at Batman.

"Most likely. We will simply just have to be ready for anything with her." Batman informed. Just then Athena started to float again, above her team mates and M'gann flew up and gently pulled her back down.

"I-I'm sorry." She informed. "I don't know how that happens."

"It's alright, Athena." Conner said with a small smile, walking over to Athena. "It's just something we'll need to work on."

~*~*~*~*~The Next Day~*~*~*~*~

Athena held her two suitcases that held her cloths, books, music, wig and contacts. She knew that she would still be able to visit Mt. Justice, but she was nervous what it would be like where Batman lived.

She had said her goodbyes to everyone, even La'gaan, who still seemed to care less about her.

She was expecting to go through the transporter to Batman's house alone. Batman had informed her that he was not going to be able to go with her through the transporter due to a job he had. One that involved his secret identity. However, Dick stood in front of the transporter, waiting for her.

"Nii-san, are you coming with me?" she inquired, tilting her head. Dick smiled at the name, and Athena reviewed the sentence in her mind and tried to fix herself. "I mean, Nightwing…"

"It's alright. I like Nii-san." He informed, giving the girl a big hug. "And yes, I'm coming with you, but Super Papa wants to say good bye to you first."

Conner shot a glare at Dick as he walked up to Athena.

"Can you quit calling me that?" he grumbled, but before Dick could say anything, Athena engulfed Conner in a hug.

"I'm going to miss you." She said in a quiet voice. "very much." She added. Conner hugged her but smiled,

"You'll still visit right? This isn't going to be the last time we see each other."

"I'll still miss you." Athena sighed and Conner pulled gently away from the hug and looked the girl in the eye.

"I'll miss you too, but this is for the better, alright? You'll be safer there." Conner smiled, and Athena nodded, then looked over at Dick.

"I'll be back soon." She said with a small smile, and then grasped Dick's hand, walking into the transporter with him.

Next thing the young girl new, she found herself in a cave with high-tech equipment, a large computer and cases of costumes and objects.

"Here we are." Dick smiled, and Athena's eyes glanced over everything.

"It's very dark." Athena informed, and Dick shook his head.

"Don't worry, this is only the Batcave, it's underneath the Manor." Dick shrugged as he gently pulled Athena to the staircase, and she followed him up to a doorway she didn't see and it led into a large living room.

Once Athena and Dick were inside the room, a grandfather clock closed behind them.

"Wow." Athena whispered, looking at how spacious the room was.

A man then entered the room and smiled kindly at the girl, and gave a small bow.

"I presume that this is Miss Athena?" the man questioned with a British accent.

"Yeah, Alfred. This is Athena. Athena, this is Alfred, the best butler in the galaxy." Dick smiled, but was being completely serious.

"It's great to meet you." Athena grinned, looking up at the man, who replied,

"It is a pleasure meeting you as well." The man's eyes then went to her bags. "I will carry your bags, and show you to your room." Alfred informed, lifting up the suit cases.

"Thank you, Sir." Athena grinned, but then looked over at Dick when he wasn't following them.

"You follow Alfred up without me, Athena. I gotta get out of this suit into more comfortable cloths." He shrugged.

Athena nodded and followed Alfred up giant stairs into a long wide hall way. Everything looked so beautiful and decorative, almost like Ra's home. However, the Manor had large windows which let in plenty of sunlight, making it a brighter place.

Alfred led her to a room with a nice bed, a desk, a bookshelf, and, best of all, giant windows that let the sunlight in, brightening everything.

"Master Bruce informed me that you would enjoy this room." Alfred stated, and Athena looked up at the butler confused.

"I do like the room, but who's Bruce?" she inquired.

"Terribly sorry for any misunderstanding." Alfred apologized. "I believe you know him as Batman."

"Batman's name is Bruce?" she inquired, and the man nodded. Athena never considered the fact that Batman's name wasn't really Batman. It just never occurred to her.

Alfred placed her suitcases next to her bed and inquired,

"Is there anything I could get you, Miss Athena?" The girl shook her head.

"No thank you, Sir." Athena smiled, then opened her suit case and placed Ralph on the pillow of her bed. She then took out her wig and contacts and placed them on the nightstand near the bed.

"Miss, you do not need to unpack now. Would you like to look around the Manor?" Alfred questioned. Just then, Dick popped his head into the room.

"I can give her the tour." He said happily. He was out of his Nightwing costume, in a blue t-shirt and navy blue sweatpants.

"Why don't you run along with Master Richard? I will unpack the rest of your belongings." Alfred informed with a smile, and before Athena could respond, Dick pulled her out of the room with excitement.

Dick started babbling off places to go in the giant building, and Athena was having trouble keeping her head straight. There were so many places in the Manor!

They then reached the living room that Athena had stepped into when she first came to the Manor. however, she hadn't noticed the painting of a man and a women in the room before.

"Who are they?" Athena inquired, looking up at the picture, and Dick followed her gaze.

"That's Bruce's parents." He informed in a somber voice. "They were killed when he was very young." Athena frowned.

"That is very sad. Does he miss them?" she inquired.

"Very much, and it's a really touchy subject with him." Dick said as he grasped Athena's hand and started to take her back to her room, the tour now over.

Once in her room, Athena noticed that everything was neatly put away, and Alfred was gone, tidying up another room.

"Nii-san, can I tell you something?" Athena said in a low voice, sitting on the bed, and Dick sat next to her.

"Sure, Athena. Anything." He gave her a comforting smile, and Athena took in a deep breath.

"I'm… I don't know how to explain it. Like, I feel like there it a pit in my stomach, and an ache in my heart. I miss Conner and everyone, and I miss Mt. Justice, but it feels like a huge feeling of missing rather than… a regular missing feeling…" Athena sighed. "It's hard to explain."

"You're homesick." Dick informed, ruffling her hair.

"Homesick?" she questioned, never remembering hearing the term before.

"Yeah. I was homesick my first few months here. But it gets better. Besides, tomorrow we'll go on a visit to Mt. Justice for a few hours. It won't be that bad."

Dick hugged Athena tightly, and Athena smiled, but the frowned.

"What's wrong?" Dick inquired.

"I'm not used to new feelings, I guess you could say. When I was with Ra's Al Ghul, I had a very bad dream. I was being told what I was feeling, and it was all true. I feel scared, lost, confused, and a bit… alone." She sighed. "I don't mean to feel these things, and I shouldn't, yet I do." Her eyes widened and she looked up at Dick. "Is there something wrong with me?"

"No. No. No." Dick shook his head, hugging her tightly. "There is nothing wrong with you. Everyone has times when they feel like this. Sure, they are usually older, but you are very mature for your age." Dick gave her an encouraging smile. "Just know that you have tons of people who care for you, and we'll always be there to help you out."

Athena smiled happily, but started to float again. Dick quickly grabbed her hands, but she was like a balloon, her feet now in the air.

"Dick…" she started in a panicked voice, but the man smiled up at her.

"Hey, it's okay, I got you." He said soothingly as he placed his hand on Athena's back and pushed her feet back under her, and pulled her down.

"Dick, I can't turn it off." Athena informed as she looked down and noticed she was still floating and was only staying close to the ground due to Dick's grip on her.

"It's alright, we'll figure it out. Just take in a deep breath and calm down." Dick said calmly, and Athena did as he said, taking in a deep breath. When she exhaled, she found herself floating back down to the ground and gravity took full effect and she was resting on the bed again.

"Thank you Nii-san!" she exclaimed happily, however, she started to float again. She sighed and calmed herself down, lowering herself down to the ground again.

"So flight is triggered by emotion." A voice muttered from the doorway. Athena looked up to where the voice originated to see a tall muscular man with bright blue eyes and short black hair.

Athena gripped onto Dick's arm tightly, but relaxed when she noticed Dick smiling.

"Hey Bruce." He grinned, and Athena looked at the man with shock.

"Bruce… you mean…"

"How do you like the Manor, Athena?" Bruce questioned in his deep voice. Athena never would have thought Batman had hair or anything like this. She was so used to the cowl.

"It's great." Athena answered. Bruce grinned and walked fully into the room.

"Green Lantern, John Stewart, said he was going to be over at Mt. Justice tomorrow to meet you." He informed, and Athena smiled.

Maybe things weren't going to be very different after all. And if her flight abilities weren't so hard to control, the others would be easy to get a handle of… right?


	16. Chapter 16

**Sorry for the later updates. I have theater camp during the day so i don't have as much time to write. :/ **

**Anyway, please enjoy and tell me what you think. I appreciate constructive criticism.**

**L.L.A.P**

**~Laces**

Chpt.16

Alfred walked calmly into Athena's room, ready to wake the sleeping child up. He was prepared for any mumbling and groaning the girl was going to throw at him, because Dick was just as bad, and Bruce, worse.

However, Alfred didn't expect to see the child _floating _in her sleep.

He was told prior to her visit that Athena had some abilities that she didn't know how to fully control, but it still didn't prepare him from walking into a room and seeing someone floating.

However, instead of screaming or freaking out, Alfred gave a small look of surprise, a quick mumble of,

"Oh, my word." and then he walked calmly over to the bed. (For Alfred, that was as shocked as he was going to get.)

Athena's eyes were glued shut, and she had brought her bear up into the air with her, hugging it tightly as the blankets hung loosely from her body.

"Miss Athena?" Alfred questioned gently. "Miss, it is time to rise. You have a busy day today." When he got no response, Alfred grabbed Athena's arm, and pulled her down slightly. In doing so, he woke up Athena, and she let out a scared strangled noise from her throat as she looked around in horror.

"Alfred." she sighed calmly when she saw the man, everything clicking into place. She took in a deep breath, and found herself back onto her bed and no longer in the air.

"Are you alright, Miss?" Alfred inquired, and she slowly nodded.

"Yes, Sir. I just had a bad dream." She answered stiffly.

She had wished that she would never have to see Ra's Al Ghul ever again, however she was wrong. The man had no qualms about haunting her dreams, and she hated him. She was always running, yet he was ten steps ahead of her, smiling at her mockingly.

"Are you alright?" Alfred inquired, and Athena looked up at the man, giving him a smile.

"Yes. I am alright." She nodded proudly, even if she didn't feel entirely okay. "Thank you for waking me up." She slid out of her bed and headed towards her dresser to pick out some clothes to wear.

"Breakfast will be ready shortly." Alfred informed, then traveled back downstairs.

Athena got dressed into jeans, sneakers, and a blue long sleeved shirt. Even if it was going to be warmer out, she wanted to cover her scars. She assured herself that she'd get more comfortable with them in time, but at that moment, she didn't want to show them off.

The girl quickly ran downstairs to where she knew the dining room to be, but bumped into Dick on the way.

"Hey there, Athena." he grinned, ruffling her hair. "How'd you sleep last night?" Athena didn't want to lie to him, but she didn't want to worry him either.

"I slept alright." She answered with a small shrug.

"You sure? Because you have some dark circles under your eyes." Dick informed, and Athena simply gave a small shrug.

The two made their way to the dining room and Alfred had already set out the pancakes and milk. Athena smiled, savoring the smell as it tickled her nose, while Dick bolted to the table and started inhaling food.

"Thanks Alfred." Dick smiled, making sure to swallow the food so he wouldn't talk with his mouth full. Alfred hated seeing chewed food in someone's mouth. He hated to see already chewed food in general.

Athena took a seat and took some bites of the pancakes, and yes, they were delicious. Athena was resigned that whatever Alfred cooked was pretty much a masterpiece.

She finished her pancakes quickly, not at the record time Dick ate, but still fast.

"Miss Athena, Master Bruce is waiting for you in the Batcave." Alfred informed, and the girl nodded, sliding off of the chair, and following Dick and the Butler through the grandfather clock and down into the cave.

Bruce was in his Batman costume, and it still amazed Athena how Bruce and Batman were the same person.

"Dick, get changed. Athena and I are going to Mt. Justice. I'll meet you there." He informed to the older boy, then looked over at Athena, who walked over and grasped the man's hand.

Batman gently gripped her hand and walked to the transporter.

"Batman?" she inquired, and he looked down at her.

"Yes?"

"You said I am meeting Green Lantern today?" Athena questioned, and Batman nodded. "Do you think he'll like me?" she inquired timidly.

"Yes, Athena. I think he'll like you." Batman informed with a small hint of a smile. The two then walked into the transporter.

~*~*~*~*~At Mt. Justice~*~*~*~*~

Conner stood with green Lantern, John Stewart, waiting for Athena to come through the transporter.

"What is she like?" the man questioned, looking at Conner.

"She's… different from most little girls." Conner informed after a beat of thinking. "She just talks more mature. She's gone through a lot recently, and she scares easily."

"I don't want to scare her." John sighed. "I just want to get to know her. She _is _partially my daughter, making me partially her father. I don't want to be some sort of bad father, never meeting her." He informed, then sighed. "Being in the Marines wasn't as nerve-racking as this."

"Trust me," Conner smiled. "She's probably just as nervous as you are." The transporter lit up, and Athena and Batman stepped out.

"Conner!" Athena exclaimed happily, running towards the clone, and he hugged her tightly.

"How was your first night away?" he inquired with some concern.

"It was alright." Athena shrugged. Her attention then turned to the man in the black and green uniform.

Conner nudged Athena closer to John, and she looked up at him with a small grin.

"Hello." She smiled timidly. John smiled back at her.

"Hello Athena." there was a pause between the two and Batman sighed.

"John, there is a rec room that has a basketball court in it. If you two want to talk in there." Batman suggested.

John was grateful that Batman knew he talked better while playing a game, mainly basketball. However, he was slightly crept out that Batman knew this when he never even told him.

Athena walked with John into the rec room.

"So, do you like basketball?" he inquired, and Athena nodded with a small smile.

"I'm not that great at it, but I do like it." She informed. John grinned, and passed her the basketball.

"Let's see what you got." Athena smiled and dribble the ball.

After about ten minutes of playing, John understood what Athena meant when she said she liked the game, but wasn't great at it.

She couldn't make a single basket, but each shot she made was with enthusiasm.

John started to instruct the girl how to shoot the ball, and after several shots, she finally made a basket.

Athena's eyes widened and she beamed happily.

"I did it!" she exclaimed full of happiness and started to float. She looked at the ground, then at John. "Sorry." She said quietly, and took in a deep breath, calming herself down. Athena's feet were on the ground safely again.

"Great shot, Athena." John grinned, but was a bit shocked about her floating. He knew that she could, but seeing it for himself shocked him slightly.

They talked as they dribbled and shot the basketball. It was mostly likes and dislikes. What John did for a living, what food Athena liked and so on.

The girl enjoyed her time with John. She also found out that enjoyed playing basketball more than she thought.

"I have to go Athena. My shift in the watchtower is about to happen." John sighed, looking at the clock. He enjoyed talking to Athena as well, and honestly wished he had time for another basketball game with the girl.

"Alright. I understand." Athena nodded, and followed John out of the room, holding his hand out.

"I'll see you again, Athena." John grinned as he gave her a short hug, then returned to the transporter to get to the watchtower.

"Athena! You're back!" Cassie exclaimed, seeing the girl and running up to give her a hug.

Cassie quickly pulled the girl into her old room to talk about what had been going on in her life and boys and typical girl things.

Athena never minded listening to Cassie talk. Cassie was like her older sister, so she had no qualms listening to her talk. She really did look up to her.

"Soooo, I head you can fly! That's so awesome!" she smiled happily.

"Well… I don't really know how to control it. It just sort of… turns on and if I calm myself down I can float back down." she explained. Cassie's smile didn't fade.

"C'mon, get excited or something, and let's see you float!" she said with excitement. Athena took in a deep breath and tried to replicate her excitement, but… nothing happened.

"I… I don't know…"

"C'mon Athena, you can do it." Cassie smiled, and Athena tried again, but still couldn't replicate what she felt when she got excited and didn't lift from the ground.

"I… I can't… right now…" she whispered, but Cassie had faith in her. Perhaps maybe too much faith.

"Sure you can." She said with encouragement.

"No… no… I can't…"

"Don't say that."

_"Don't say you can't do it, Project Powers! Deflect the bullet! Tense your skin and don't let it pierce it!" Milo exclaimed. _

_ "But… but I can't. It… keeps br-breaking my… skin. And it… hurts." _

_ "You can do it!" Milo exclaimed and then shot the gun. _

"I can't!" Athena exclaimed, and a wave of force threw Cassie against the wall. Cassie looked at Athena with shock, and the girl shook slightly as she stood to her feet.

"I-I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…" her eyes watered slightly, and Cassie was up and quickly hugging the girl.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. I'm alright. There's no need to cry. That was my fault. I'm sorry." Cassie said quickly as she hugged Athena tightly, and the girl continue to cry into Cassie's chest.

"I d-don't want to… to hurt p-people." Athena sobbed, and Cassie patted her back.

"It's okay, Athena. you didn't hurt me. I'm alright. And you won't hurt anyone either." She tried to comfort the sobbing girl. "It's just something we need to work on."


	17. Chapter 17

**Sorry for taking forever to update. There be fluff ahead**

**Please tell me what you think :)**

**L.L.A.P**

**~Laces**

Chpt.17

When Batman took Athena back to the Batcave, she was very quiet and closed off. Cassie had explained what happened to Batman, and it appeared that Athena didn't want to talk to anyone after the incident.

"Would you like some Dinner, Athena?" Batman questioned once inside the cave. "I'm sure Alfred has some prepared." He was worried how Athena was acting ever since one of her abilities accidentally went off. He didn't enjoy seeing her looking so depressed and he didn't mind it when she talked.

"No thank you." She whispered, her eyes staring dully on the floor. "May I please go to my room?"

Batman didn't want her to be hungry, but he wasn't going to force her to eat.

"If that's what you want." Batman stated, and the girl slowly made her way up to her room.

Batman sat at his computer chair and slid the cowl off of his head, running his hands through his hair, trying to release some stress.

As he let out a loud exhale, a voice inquired,

"Tea, sir?" It was Alfred, and Bruce mutely nodded his head.

Alfred _knew _when something was wrong, and he could feel that something was definitely awry.

Alfred calmly poured the tea into the cup, and handed it gently to Bruce.

"I saw Miss Athena walking to her room. Has she already eaten?" the older man inquired, and Bruce shook his head.

"No. She says she's not hungry, but she is merely…" Bruce paused. "I don't know, Alfred. One of her abilities went off when she got frustrated, and it sent Wonder Girl flying into a wall. It was an accident, but I think it scared her." He informed.

"And what do you plan to do about it?" Alfred inquired calmly. Bruce looked away from the butler to glare at the computer screen.

"What _can_ I do, Alfred? I doubt there is anything I could do that would make her less frightened about her abilities." Bruce stated, his voice tight, but he took in a deep breath to calm himself.

Alfred placed a light hand on Bruce's shoulder.

"You can _talk _to her, Sir." Alfred advised. "It does not even have to be about what happened. Just be there to talk to her, and let her talk back. Perhaps this might alleviate any worries she has."

~*~*~*~*~*~Athena's Room~*~*~*~*~*~

Athena really wasn't hungry. The giant knot in her stomach _made_ her appetite sour.

"Ralph, I could have hurt Cassie." Athena informed, looking at her teddy bear sadly. "I could have _hurt_ her. I didn't mean to but…" Athena trailed off, shaking her head. "Ralph, I don't want to hurt people. I… I _never _want to hurt anybody. I was _made _to hurt people, but I don't want to. I don't want to hurt anybody!" Athena exclaimed and objects in her room shook.

Athena's eyes widened and she grabbed Ralph, hugging him tightly.

_"Calm down, Athena. Just calm down. Your flight is controlled by joy, shock, and anxiousness. Maybe your ability to move things are also controlled by emotion. Just calm down." _Ralph said gently.

"Right… right… just calm down." Athena sighed, taking in a deep breath, and the objects in her room stopped shaking.

"Athena?" there was a soft knock on the door, and then it slightly opened. "May I come in?" the girl could recognize Bruce's voice.

"Yes." She nodded, and Bruce walked into the room along with a cup of tea.

"I figured you might want something to drink." He informed, placing the tea on her desk.

"Thank you." Athena smiled weakly, and Bruce walked over to her and sat by her side on her bed.

"How are you feeling?" he inquired with some concern.

"Not good." She answered, looking down and playing with her fingertips.

"Why don't you feel good, Athena?" Bruce inquired, but quickly added in a gentle tone, "You can talk to me."

"I don't want to hurt people." Athena whispered. "I never do. But… if I can't control what I do…" Bruce wrapped his arms around her quickly in a strong hug. He could see that she was about to cry, and Bruce didn't want that.

"It will be _okay_ Athena. Do not worry about these things because we are here to help. You won't hurt anybody. It will be _okay_." He stated strongly.

Athena didn't answer him, but she wrapped her arms around his torso, hugging him back. Bruce lightly stroked her hair, trying to calm her.

And it worked.

She took in deep breaths, and Bruce's words put her at ease and made her grasp the concept that everything was going to be alright.

She looked up at Bruce, and her eyes widened. Bruce was wearing a button up shirt, but the first two buttons were open, exposing his skin. Athena could see a pale scar that seemed to start at the bottom of his neck and trailed down under his shirt.

"You have scars too?" she inquired in a small voice, and Bruce raised an eyebrow. The statement seemed very random to him.

"Yes." He said with a curt nod, and Athena couldn't wrap her mind around that concept. The concept of Batman having scars. Of Batman getting _hurt_. It just seemed impossible to hurt her. Batman appeared like a dark shadow that absolutely nothing could penetrate, let alone touch.

"Were you experimented on too?" Athena inquired, looking at the man curiously. However, Bruce shook his head.

"No, Athena." he informed, then sighed. "But I did get my scars from evil people."

"How'd you get that one? The one that starts at your neck?" she questioned, full of wonder of what could have possibly pierced the man's skin.

"Catwoman scratched me with her claws." Bruce informed, and Athena nodded. It was still strange to her how Batman could be hurt.

"What's your favorite scar?" Athena inquired, and Bruce looked at her confused.

"My favorite scar?" he inquired, making sure he had heard that right.

"Yes… like this one is mine." She informed with a small smile, pointing at a pale line on her hand. Bruce couldn't help but ask,

"What makes it your favorite?"

"Because I gave it to me." Athena informed proudly, and Bruce wasn't going to correct the girl's grammar. "Nobody else gave it to me. And it was an accident. And it didn't hurt much." Athena explained, giggling lightly.

"I tripped and then fell backwards, and my hand snagged on something on one of the guard's... something. Probably his armor. Anyway, I got cut, but it's one of my favorites." It was the only scar on her body that didn't have a traumatic story to go along with it, and Bruce quickly realized that.

"See this scar?" Bruce questioned, pointing to a thin line on his thumb. "I acquired it while trying cut meat to make a father's day dinner for Alfred." He informed with a small smile.

"Well… did he like the dinner?" Athena inquired after taking a long look at the scar. Bruce shook his head, but remained grinning.

"No. he told me that he appreciated the thought, but I should stay out of the kitchen." He answered.

Bruce enjoyed talking to Athena. it was relaxing just to sit, and talk, and he could tell that Athena was feeling better as well.

"Hey… Bruce?" Athena questioned, sounding slightly apprehensive. Bruce quickly rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Yes?"

"Do you think I'll become a monster?" she questioned in a soft voice. "Like... If I could gain abilities after years of not having them... could something change inside me that would make me want to hurt people?"

Bruce could see the fear in her eyes, and he shook his head.

"No. You wouldn't do that." To be honest, Bruce would have said that her future was very unclear, however, he didn't have the heart to be blunt and tell her so, due to her terrified look.

"Athena, know that if there is anything wrong or you think something about you is changing, that you can talk to me." Bruce informed seriously. Athena nodded sternly.

"Thank you... Father?" her eyes looked at him with some worry, wondering if she was going to reprimanded for using the word.

Bruce's eyes widened and Athena looked away, immediately regretting calling him so. She knew that Dick was okay with Nii-san, but she wasn't too sure about how Bruce would react to the term Father.

"Sorry." she said quickly. "I wasn't sure if I was allowed..."

"Yes." Bruce said quickly. "You can call me that. I..." Bruce took in a deep breath. "I am your father so you are allowed to address me as such."

Athena smiled and Bruce kissed the top of her head.

"Are you sure you don't want any dinner?" Bruce inquired with a small smile. He knew that she was most likely starving.

"I may be having second thoughts." she said with a sheepish smile.

"Alfred has a plate warm for you in the oven." Bruce grinned and he and Athena walked downstairs to the kitchen, letting her hold her hand.

Alfred was right. Just talking helped Athena more than Bruce had thought.


	18. Chapter 18

**Sorry for taking forever to update. Things have been very hectic. **

**Superman is very hard to write. I'm used to writing the Superman from Superman the Animated series (a.k.a my childhood) who is this trustful, peaceful, kind man who seems to love everyone until proven otherwise. However, i noticed when comparing that Superman to Young Justice Superman, there were a handful of differences, so i had to attempt at writing Young Justice Superman. Sorry if he seems out of character, i'm trying really hard. **

**L.L.A.P**

**~Laces**

Chpt.18

Athena frequently visited Mt. Justice, where she also practiced her powers. She could move things with her mind for about two seconds, but she was proud of her progress on her telekinesis. (Or as Dick called it, her "Force".)

Her flight was improving as well, but when she got excited, she still often would float. However, she didn't seem to have any more abilities.

Athena only went to Wayne Manor and Mt. Justice. That was it. Sure, she did sometimes go to Happy Harbor, but Bruce didn't ever take her into Gotham city. However, that was going to change.

One day during breakfast, Bruce's cell phone rang, which was strange because usually his cell phone never went off. Not many people had his number.

Bruce answered it at the table, earning him a pointed glare from Alfred, which he tried to ignore.

"Today?" Bruce questioned in a low voice.

Athena looked over at Alfred, hoping for an answer, but he had none. Instead, the butler said gently,

"Miss Athena, perhaps you should wait out in the living room." He suggested, as he picked up the girl's plate.

Athena nodded and walked into the room, but couldn't deny the fact that she was curious who was on the phone with Bruce.

After about two minutes, Bruce walked into the living room, and looked at Athena.

"You should get your wig and contacts on. We're going out to a diner I know to meet someone." He informed.

"Who?" Athena inquired, cocking her head to the side.

"It's a surprise." Bruce informed with a small smile.

The word surprise made any seven year old excited, and this included Athena. She started to float, and before Bruce could say anything, she quickly flew to her room… until she crashed into the wall, having yet to perfect turning, and stopping. Athena's directions were forward, up, and down.

"Athena…"

"It's okay! I'm okay! The wall's okay too!" Athena exclaimed from upstairs, and Bruce sighed. He couldn't imagine what she was going to be like when she got older.

Athena was quickly downstairs again with her short curly brown wig, and brown eye contacts. It was obvious she was having some difficulty keeping her feet on the ground.

Bruce extended his hand and she took it happily, trying to keep herself from floating off the ground, while excited over what the surprise could be.

"Let's go, Athena."

~*~*~*~*~*~At the Diner~*~*~*~*~*~

Bruce stepped into the Diner with Athena, and looked over at a man sitting at a booth with circular glasses, blue eyes, and short black hair.

"See that man?" Bruce questioned, and Athena nodded. "That is one of your fathers." Athena looked at Bruce in shock, then at the man in the booth.

Bruce gave her a small pat on the back, then walked back to the door.

"Father…"

"Go talk to him." Bruce stated with a small grin. Athena was suddenly nervous. She was always nervous about meeting one of her parents. She wanted them to like her.

Athena took in a deep breath, and slowly walked over to the man at the table, and she could see Bruce watch her get to the destination, then leave the shop.

"Hello." Athena said in a small voice, and the man smiled at her kindly. Now up close to him, she was surprised how he looked so similar to Conner.

"Hello. Are you Athena?" he inquired, and the girl nodded shyly, and the man looked at the seat across from him.

"You should have a seat." He informed, and the girl did so. Her mind was going through who he was.

_Could he be Martian Manhunter?_ She wondered, but quickly dismissed it. She met the Martian quickly in passing, but she met him nonetheless. However, she realize that she had met all of her parents except for one.

Superman.

"I'm sorry I haven't met you sooner." The man apologized.

"I-It's okay. You were busy." Athena shrugged lightly.

"Conner has told me a lot about you. You two seem close." The man smiled, and Athena smiled slightly. She liked Conner. He was like another one of her father's.

"Yes. He's very nice." Athena nodded.

"My name is Clark, by the way. Clark Kent." He said with a smile, however, when he told her the information he looked like he had to force himself to keep the smile.

"It's nice to meet you, Clark." She said politely, ignoring the way he smiled previously.

"Same here, Athena. I really have wanted to meet you for a while, now." Clark said, truly sincere. Athena smiled because she really did want to meet him as well, and she could feel herself start to rise from her seat.

Her eyes quickly widened and she grabbed the bottom of the seat, pulling herself down and she started to take in deep breaths, relaxing herself.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, waiting to be reprimanded. He was _Superman_. Controlling his flight was probably easy for him. She expected him to be upset that she couldn't do something so simple.

Instead he gave her a small smile.

"Are you having some problems controlling your flight?" he inquired, and Athena nodded mutely.

"I can help you with that if you want." he informed in a soft voice. "I already talked to Bruce, so we have the entire day to spend with each other." Clark stood from the booth and extended his hand for her to take.

Athena slowly took his hand, and Clark held it as tight as he could without harming her. Athena couldn't help notice the differences between Clark and Conner.

Conner never held her hand as tight as Clark was. When he did, it was a firm, yet gentle hand-hold. To be honest, Athena felt like Clark thought she was going to run away, like he didn't trust her.

Also, her conversations with Conner had never been so… awkward.

She could practically smell the uncertainty coming off of Clark. It was as if he was trying to trust her as much as he could, but there was something pulling him away.

"What's wrong?" Athena questioned with worry, and Clark raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean? Nothing's wrong." He informed, and Athena shook her head.

"You seem to be acting strange around me. I am not trying to sound rude, but it's true. Is there something wrong?" she inquired, but was completely serious.

Clark took in a deep breath as he walked next to the girl, and sighed. He quickly led them to a bench at a nearby park, and sat down.

"Athena… Bruce told me everything about your past and what you are." Clark stated, and Athena looked at him confused.

"What I am? I'm human." She informed plainly, but Clark shook his head, and said in a low voice,

"No, you are not. Not fully. Your part human, part Amazonian, part Kryptonian, part Atlantian, and part Martian. In short, you are a lab experiment. A proje-"

"Please don't say that." She whispered, cutting him off. Her face was down, out of Clark's sight.

"I'm sorry, Athena. I just have some doubts, and I feel I have a right to. You don't know how to control your abilities, and what abilities you even have." Clark paused for a moment. "I am a very dangerous person. If you have my abilities and then some, that makes you a very dangerous person too." He explained.

"I-I don't want t-to hurt anybody." Clark's eyes widened as he heard the small sobs of the girl who was holding her contacts that slid off due to the tears.

"Athena… I didn't mean to make you cry. I just thought…"

"That because I was grown in a test tube I'm not a person?" she questioned with some bitterness in her tone, but she was still crying, very upset. It felt like someone punched her in the stomach.

"No. Never. You are a person, Athena. I just… I have found out the hard way that when you trust someone fully, you will get hurt even more when they betray you." He informed.

Athena refused to look at him.

"Maybe when you refuse to trust someone, the more isolated you become." She whispered, but his words from earlier echoed in her head,

"_In short you are a lab experiment. A proje-"_ she knew he was going to call her a project. It made her heart ache and she wanted to get away. To get somewhere safe. To go to someone safe. To go to…

"Please, take me to Conner." Clark looked at her, surprised.

"Athena, I didn't mean…"

"I want to see Conner. Please." Clark wanted to deny her, but he noticed that he had already done enough damage. He felt like punching himself. He had his chance to bond with his "daughter" and he blew it due to his mistrust.

Clark wished that she could understand him. He didn't mistrust _her_ he only mistrusted what she _was_. Until proven otherwise it was going to stay that way.

~*~*~*~*~*~At Mt. Justice~*~*~*~*~*~

Conner was shocked when he saw Athena walking next to Clark, looking away from him with her arms crossed.

Athena _loved_ holding hands, but she appeared to want absolutely nothing to do with Clark.

Something was definitely _wrong_.

Athena ran to Conner and hugged him tightly. Conner placed a hand on the girl's head, then looked up at Clark.

"What happened?" he questioned, then looked back down at the girl. He gently picked her up and patted her back.

"We'll talk later." Clark informed, but he sounded… well Conner couldn't exactly place it. It was a mixture of disappointment and remorse, yet not exactly.

"Athena, what's wrong?" Conner questioned once Clark left the room. The girl lowered her eyes and small droplets of tears streaked her face.

"I'm angry, Conner." She informed sadly. "I don't want to be angry, but I _am_. I want to love Clark, really, I do, but I am so mad at him. I don't want to at all, because he's my…" Athena paused. "He probably doesn't even see me as a daughter, so why should I even think about referring to him as a father."

Conner raised an eyebrow, and looked the girl in the eye.

"What happened, Athena?" he inquired.

"He doesn't trust me." she whispered. "And if I didn't cut him off he would have called me a Project." She shook her head. "I just want to be seen as a person, not a project."

Conner sighed. He really needed to talk to Clark about improving his father child relationships.

"I know how you feel, Athena." Conner informed, kissing the top of her head. "After I was freed from my capsule, Clark didn't want anything to do with me for several months." Conner grimaced slightly at the memories of that. "But it will all be alright. You just need to give it time, alright?"

Conner placed Athena on her feet, and brushed a tear on her cheek away with his thumb.

"Come on, Athena. how about we go into town and get some ice cream." Conner smiled, and Athena smiled back, drying the rest of her tears and placing her contact back in.

Conner _knew_ that he was going to have to talk to Clark.


	19. Chapter 19

**Sorry if this chapter is poorly written. Blah!**

**Also, if you are Catholic do not take any offense to this chapter please. I know there are some people out there who are like what i describe, but not all Catholics are like that. These are just the three girls that you see later. **

**So... sorry and i hope you somehow enjoy this really horrible chapter. (BLAH! WHAT IS GOOD WRITING! APPARENTLY I JUST CAN'T WRITE!)**

**Sorry for the rant been a long tiring day.**

**L.L.A.P**

**~Laces **

Chpt.19

The conversation with Clark didn't go as well as Conner had hoped. Trying to sit down and just talk about Athena was troubling to Clark. He knew that Conner wouldn't understand what was going through his mind so he tried to simply dodge any questions from the clone.

However, Conner finally did get a hold of Clark.

"Clark, she hasn't proven herself as someone to not trust, so why do you not trust her? She's just a little girl." Clark sighed and shook his head.

"Conner, she is not just a little girl. She is a powerful weapon. She could go off at any moment and start killing people without even knowing it. She might malfunction, or maybe she might simply drop down dead one day. There are too many unknown variables with her." Clark explained, and Conner ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

"Clark, you don't understand. She is…"

"You just don't want to believe that she isn't so innocent as you think." Clark stated quickly, then left the Mountain quickly in a huff.

Conner watched as the man left, then collapsed on the couch.

Clark was right that he didn't want to believe in the possibility that she wasn't such an innocent child. However, Conner couldn't help it. The girl was like a daughter to him. A daughter who he didn't want to lose. He didn't care if she was grown in a laboratory, that didn't change who she was.

"Didn't go to well?" Nightwing inquired, walking into the room, and Conner sighed, shaking his head.

"Athena doesn't deserve this. Nobody deserves to be looked down upon by their father." He stated, and Nightwing sat next to Conner on the couch.

"If it makes you feel any better, Superman seems to be the only one of her "fathers" that doesn't like her too much. Also, you are a clone from him. That makes you kinda her father in a way too." He explained. "We shouldn't focus on the people who don't like Athena, we should focus on the people who do."

Conner nodded, but continued to frown.

"Superman mentioned that Athena could malfunction or die. Do you know how likely those things are from happening?" he inquired.

"I honestly don't know." Nightwing informed with a small shrug. "She lived this long though. I don't know why she'd suddenly break down." he paused for a moment, not liking how possible the idea was. "Conner, for all we know Athena could live for a hundred years or maybe she might die tomorrow, but that just means that until we know, we have to make sure every one of her days alive are worth it."

Conner looked over at Nightwing and smiled slightly.

"You're right. And we shouldn't worry about this. Where's Athena now?" he inquired, and Nightwing smirked.

"Batman actually thinks that she should get some kid friends, so she's at some sort of science and history museum kid thingy." Conner gave Nightwing a look, and the man put his hands up in defense. "Hey, it wasn't my idea, and besides, it may sound boring but apparently kids there get to do some cool stuff. Make paper airplanes, make model volcanos, write like a colonial person stuff like that. It's at the science and history museum. And Athena wanted to go too."

"So she's into science and history?" Conner questioned, and Nightwing sighed.

"She seems to like everything. Drawling, writing, reading, sports, animals… really I think she just wants to try everything she can since she's missed out on so much." Nightwing explained.

"I guess that's true." Conner shrugged. "I hope she's able to make some friends."

~*~*~*~*~*~At the Child Science and History Museum~*~*~*~*~*~

Athena never talked to kids her own age before, so to say that she was a bit nervous was an understatement.

Once Alfred dropped her off, she felt completely alone looking at the large crowd of kids getting ready for the event the museum was holding to get children more interested in their school studies.

First she decided to walk up to a group of girls talking and giggling together.

"Hello." Athena said with a small smile. The girls looked her up and down, then smiled at her.

"Hello." A blond girl said. "I'm Molly." A girl with freckles added,

"I'm Gina." And a girl with straight black hair informed,

"I'm Becca. What's your name?"

"I'm Athena." she said with a bright smile.

"Athena?" Gina repeated, crinkling her nose a bit, as if she tasted something sour.

"That's a weird name." Molly stated.

"I've never heard of it before." Becca informed, crossing her arms as if Athena had been lying about her name. Athena looked at all the girl's faces and frowned.

"Well… I was name after a Greek Goddess." She informed in a small voice.

"A Greek Goddess?" Becca repeated, her eyes widening, almost in fear, along with the other girls. "That's bad."

"There's only one God." Gina informed matter-of-factly.

"Do you worship the devil too? My mommy warned me about people like you." Molly stated.

"No! No! I was just named after a Goddess… I… I don't really have a religion yet." Athena informed quickly, however, that seemed to just make things worse.

"You don't have a religion? You mean you never went to church?" Molly questioned, and before Athena could say anything, Becca added,

"Were you ever even Baptized?"

"I… I don't think so… no. I…"

"She's gonna go to hell." Gina whispered to the other girls, but Athena heard what she said. And the girl had read plenty about Hell in books and poems she read in Bruce's small library.

"I… I didn't do anything wrong… I don't think I should go to hell…"

"If you don't convert soon you'll definitely go to hell." Becca nodded, and Athena was truly scared.

"She won't go to hell. Bug off." A voice stated from behind her. Athena turned around to see a boy who was about an inch shorter than her with big circular glasses, curly black hair, and tan skin.

"Why? Are you a devil worshiper too?" Becca questioned to the boy, but he looked at her calmly.

"No, I'm not. In fact, I don't think Jesus would be very happy that you're calling someone you hardly know a devil worshiper. Jesus preached love, not hate, so please don't spread it." The boy stated. The girls gave a small huff, then walked away from the two.

"Thank you." Athena said, turning to the boy.

"No problem. They go to Saint Agnes Catholic school and are pretty snobby, and closed minded. We go to the same church." The boy shrugged, but then smiled. "My name's Ramon." He stuck out his hand to shake, but Athena ignored the hand and hugged him instead.

"It's nice to meet you Ramon. My name is Athena." she informed happily.

"I heard." Ramon breathed through the bone crushing hug. "Nice to meet you too." Athena released him from her hug and he took in a deep breath.

"So, Athena, where do you go to school?" he inquired, and Athena's eyes widened.

"Uh… well… I… don't really go to a school." Athena informed quietly.

"Oh, so your homeschooled?" Ramon questioned, and Athena nodded quickly.

"Yes… Yes! That's it! I'm homeschooled! Yes, I am homeschooled." Athena said with pride. Ramon looked at her with some puzzlement, then shrugged.

"We need to get into pairs or small groups for the museum tour, so do you want to be my partner?" he inquired.

"Okay." Athena smiled happily, grabbing Ramon's hand and swinging it back and forth as she stood by his side, humming what sounded like an Elvis song.

Ramon listened to the humming more and confirmed it as Elvis' Blue Suede Shoes song.

Ramon was quiet for a nine year old. He often didn't talk and kept to himself. In fact, he didn't exactly know _why_ he decided to try to stick up for the strange girl who was, at the moment, swinging his hand as if it were the most natural thing in the world to do with someone she just met.

However, Ramon couldn't help, but smile. This Athena girl was strange to him, but not in a bad way. Sure, she seemed a bit… off… somehow, but that didn't bother him.

"Ramon, are you excited about getting to make model Volcanos? My brother was telling me about how he made one once and it exploded all over the kitchen." She said with a small laugh. "But don't you think it will be fun?" she questioned with her big wide grin.

Ramon chuckled, looking up at the taller girl.

"Yes. It does sound like fun." He grinned. _Is this what making a friend is like?_ He wondered.

However, Ramon wasn't the only one thinking that.


	20. Chapter 20

**Sorry for the meh chapter and for not updating in forever. been really busy lately. :(**

**L.L.A.P**

**~Laces**

Chpt.20

"Wow, how long have you been taking art classes." Athena inquired as she looked around Ramon's room.

Every inch of it was covered in pictures that were made by the boy.

"since I was six." Ramon informed with a small smile. "Do you like them?"

"Yes, they're amazing!" Athena beamed.

Athena had been hanging out with Ramon most of the time when she wasn't visiting Mt. Justice or running around the manor. Of course with Bruce being Mr. Paranoia, he did a background check on the boy.

Ramon was a normal nine year old. His mom was a music teacher, his dad was a police officer who died when the boy was four. Both his parents moved from Puerto Rico and seemed to have a spotless record.

Bruce was okay with Athena going over to the boy's house once Nightwing checked it out several time inconspicuously.

Once given the okay, Bruce was completely fine with Athena hanging out with Ramon. Not to mention that interacting with more kids her age would help improve her social skills.

"Athena, aren't you hot?" Ramon inquired, noticing the long sleeve shirt and the warmer temperature of his house.

Athena shook her head even though she felt like she was burning. She didn't want to show him her scars, and have to explain them.

"I'm fine."

"Kids, it's time for dinner!" a voice that Athena recognized as Ramon's mother exclaimed.

Ramon's mother appeared to be in her early thirties. Her dark brown hair was usually pulled back and she had dark chocolate brown eyes that Ramon definitely got from her.

"Thanks mom, we'll be down!" Ramon shouted back, then looked to Athena.

"I hope you like rice, and beans with some chicken." Ramon smiled, and Athena nodded.

"Yeah… well… I don't think I ever tried beans before." Athena confessed, and Ramon's eyes widened.

"You never had beans before? Mom makes beans with practically every meal!" Ramon exclaimed, but Athena just shrugged.

"No… never had them before." She then grasped his hand. "Let's not keep your mom waiting. We should go down to dinner."

Athena swung Ramon's hands happily as she walked downstairs with him.

Ramon's mom looked up and smiled softly at the two as she continued to set the table. She was proud that her son had finally made a friend since she had often seen him alone.

"Hello Mrs. Colón." Athena smiled happily as she let Ramon take more control of where they were going, and he led her to a seat at the kitchen table, and he chose the seat next to her.

Mrs. Colón chuckled lightly at how funny the two looked together. Despite feeding her son as much as she could, the boy looked to be only skin and bones and he was _very_ small. He looked incredibly weak, while this new friend of his, Athena, seemed to look more muscular. Not to mention she had a good inch on Ramon in height.

"Athena, do you want to say Grace?" Mrs. Colón inquired, and the girl tilted her head to the side.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what that is." She informed.

"It's a prayer." Mrs. Colón informed, and the girl frowned.

"I don't know any prayers." She said sadly, but Mrs. Colón gave her a kind smile.

"It's alright. Ramon, how about you say Grace?" Ramon nodded and laced his fingers together in prayer, and Athena imitated what he was doing.

"God is good, God is great, and we thank him for our food, by his hands we all are fed, give us lord our daily bread. Amen." Ramon recited.

"Amen." His mother nodded.

"Amen?" Athena repeated, but was unsure if she was supposed to. She then looked at Ramon and his mother. "Now what do we do?" she inquired, and Mrs. Colón smiled at her.

"Now we eat." She quickly made Athena a plate along with Ramon. Rice, beans, and Chicken, just like Ramon had said.

Athena enjoyed the food, and the moment she stuck the black beans in her mouth and giggle with delight at the strange texture and rich taste. She had to concentrate so she wouldn't float off of the chair from her happiness.

"So Athena, how do you like the food?" Mrs. Colón inquired, and the girl smiled happily.

"It's great! I never had beans before, but they're so good!" Athena said happily, but Ramon's Mom looked a bit shocked.

"You never had beans before?" she questioned, and the little girl shook her head.

"Nope."

"We need to have you eat over more often then. I make beans about every meal." Mrs. Colón laughed and Ramon leaned in and whispered to Athena,

"Trust me, she isn't joking."

The dinner went on fairly calm with some small conversation starting up a bit about Ramon's art classes and Mrs. Colón's job as a teacher.

"Athena, you're sweating, do you want a lighter shirt?" Ramon's mother inquired with some concern, but Athena shook her head, holding her torso tightly.

"N-no. I'm fine, really." She said in a soft voice. She did feel bad about lying to people who were being so kind to her.

Mrs. Colón nodded quietly, but looked a bit suspicious.

When Athena reached over to pick up her glass of water, her sleeve pulled back slightly, and Mrs. Colón's eyes went to it quickly.

"Athena, is that a scar?" she inquired, and the girl's eyes widened, looking where Ramon's mom's eyes were.

Athena nodded silently, and Ramon inquired,

"How'd you get it?" Athena was afraid to speak.

"I… I don't want to talk about it." She informed in a small voice, and Mrs. Colón's face hardened.

"Athena, are your parents treating you correctly? Do they hurt you?" she questioned seriously, and Athena quickly shook her head.

"No! No, I'm treated very nice there… just… I got hurt a lot before I moved here." She took in a deep breath. "The people I lived with before were very mean, but I now live with nice people." It was partially the truth, and it hurt less than completely lying to their faces.

"You were hurt a lot?" Ramon inquired, and Athena nodded.

"Yes, and I have many scars that aren't very… _pretty _to look at." Athena informed quietly. "That's why I wear this."

"It's okay." Ramon smiled like it was all a big misunderstanding. "Mom has scars too." Athena looked across the table at Ramon's mother and noticed the thin lines on her arms.

"Scars are something that we don't worry about here." Mrs. Colón smiled at her, and Athena slowly took off her long sleeve shirt. She had a blue tank top underneath.

Ramon's mom didn't show it, but she was completely furious. She loved children, that was why she wanted to become a teacher, so seeing that a young girl was abused so much and so cruelly, it made her want to find them and kill them.

If she had the connections she used to have, she probably would have too.

"Do you feel cooler now?" Mrs. Colón inquired, and Athena nodded.

"Thank you for accepting my scars." Athena grinned. "How did you get yours?" Ramon answered for his mom.

"She was in a club when she was little and got hurt doing some jobs for the club." He informed. At least that was how Mrs. Colón explained it to her son. She was in a _club_.

"So, the people who are raising you currently are nice to you?" Mrs. Colón inquired, trying to get away from a conversation about her past.

"Yeah, they're really nice. And I have an older brother now. He's really funny." Athena giggled lightly.

The rest of the dinner was with Athena talking about the fun things she did with her "brother" and how much fun he was.

There was then a small knock on the door, and Mrs. Colón quickly went to answer it.

"Hello?" she inquired, opening the door, and at the door stood Dick Grayson, smiling a big smile in his civilian clothes.

"Hi, I'm Dick Grayson. I'm here to pick up Athena." he informed, and Mrs. Colón reached out her hands to shake with the man.

"Hello, I'm Indira Colón. It's nice to meet you. Athena's just finishing up dinner, but do you want some coffee?"

Dick wasn't going to turn down coffee.

"Thank you." He smiled and the woman let him walk into the home. Mrs. Colón showed Dick to a seat across from Athena and Ramon while she prepared the tea.

"Dick, this is my friend, Ramon." She smiled happily. "Ramon, this is my brother, Dick." She grinned, and Ramon waved shyly getting more quiet. He only talked a lot when he was near Athena.

"Nice to meet you, Ramon." Dick beamed his white smile that practically said, 'Hello do you want a hug because I just want everyone to be happy.' "Athena has told me a lot about you." He added.

"It's nice to meet you too, sir." Ramon said quietly, looking down at his feet.

Mrs. Colón came back with the mug of coffee for Dick and smiled at the woman gratefully.

"Thank you, Mrs. Colón." He grinned as he took a sip.

~*~*~*~*~*~Later~*~*~*~*~*~

Athena and Dick had a long and fun conversation with the Colón family about various things, but they eventually had to leave.

"Athena , why didn't you cover your scars?" Dick inquired, and Athena answered,

"Well, Mrs. Colón saw a scar on my arm when I went to get a drink, but then she said that she had scars and it was okay to have them. At first she thought I was being abused, so I told her that that wasn't true, and that I was abused by my first family." Athena explained.

"Nice quick thinking." Nightwing grinned happily, but then got a bit more serious. "Athena, do you like hanging out with Ramon?" he questioned, and Athena nodded happily.

"Of course I do. Why wouldn't I?" she inquired, and Dick shrugged.

"I dunno, he just seems quiet, and you are pretty much the polar opposite of quiet." Dick explained.

"He's a lot of fun to talk to and play games with. His a good friend, and he stuck up for me when I needed him." Athena explained, and Dick grinned, ruffling her hair.

"I guess that's all that matters, isn't it?"


	21. Chapter 21

Chpt.21

"Athena, are you sure you're comfortable wearing a t-shirt and shorts?" Conner inquired as they were heading out to the beach.

Athena was wearing black mesh shorts and a red t-shirt instead of her usual long pants and long sleeved shirts. Conner knew that she was often self-conscious about her scars, so the change in wardrobe surprised him.

"Yes, I'm sure. Everyone has scars… I just happen to have a lot of them." She shrugged as she opened the door to get to the beach while holding Conner's hand.

Conner grinned as he gently gripped the girl's hand, following her outside. She was making so much progress. She was getting more comfortable with people, she was better at speaking the English language, she was getting more confident in herself… everything seemed to be looking up.

Athena stood on the beach, smiling as she felt the sun light and warm up her body. Her feet were in the water.

"So this is how far you will go out to? You're feet?" Conner questioned, and Athena nodded.

"It's better than nothing." She informed. "Small steps."

Conner took a small step forward, and Athena followed. Conner took another small steps deeper into the water and Athena followed him.

This proceeded for about five minutes until a wave splashed up onto her chest. She was up to her waist in the water.

She looked back at the beach, forward at the ocean, then looked at Conner with fear. Her grip on him tightened and she started to float out of the water.

"No." Conner said in a soft voice as he pushed Athena down from the air, and back into the water. "You're not hurt. See? You're safe. And I'm right here holding your hand, so you can't be pulled away."

Athena stood rigidly still in the water as she stood firmly on the sand under the water. She then took in a deep breath, and looked at Conner.

"You…" she paused for a moment. "I…" she looked down, trying to get her words straight. "I call Batman father." She said quietly.

"Well… that's great to hear." Conner shrugged. "He technically is sort of your dad, so it makes sense to call him so."

Athena looked back down at the water, as if she had more to say, but was just too nervous to actually say what she was thinking.

"Why did you want to tell me that, Athena? Was there a reason?" Conner inquired. She gripped onto his arm tighter for a moment due to a bigger wave, then looked up at Conner.

"Can I think of you as a Dad?" she inquired in a small voice, and Conner's eyes widened.

"I'm sorry, it's just… other than Batman….you're just very much like a father figure to me. I'm sorry." She whispered, but Conner picked her up and spun her around in the ocean water.

"That's perfectly fine by me, Athena." he smiled, kissing the top of the girl's head. Athena hugged him tightly, happiness swelling in her stomach.

"Uh, Athena?" Conner questioned, and she looked up at him.

"Hmm?"

"You're uh… floating." Conner informed, and Athena looked down to see she was hovering over the water, but she was still hugging Conner. Conner wasn't flying with her, she was holding him up.

"S-sorry." She whispered, floating back down to the ocean. Conner looked at her curiously with a raised eyebrow.

"Did you just get Super strength?" he questioned. Athena looked at him also a bit perplexed, and tried to pick Conner up again, but couldn't.

"Maybe… I'm not exactly sure." she said quietly. Conner frowned at the scared look on her face.

"It's alright." He said with a soft smile. "Let's head inside, alright?" Athena nodded, holding Conner's hand tightly.

~*~*~*~*~*~Later~*~*~*~*~*~

"Thanks for letting me draw with you." Athena smiled as she walked next to Ramon, coming from his art class.

The art classes were for free and was ran by a small organization that wanted to get kids off the streets and into something productive. Thanks to a generous donation from billionaire Bruce Wayne, the organization was able to get some new art supplies and fix up the deteriorating building. It wasn't very cutting edge, but it was nice.

Athena enjoyed going to art class with Ramon. It also got her mind off of how earlier she lifted Conner in the air.

To her, her abilities kept getting scarier and scarier. She first started to float, which wasn't too bad, but then came the telekinesis when she accidentally hurt Cassie. Now she had some sort of strength and Athena didn't want to hurt people at all.

However, in art class she was able to relax and drawl whatever she felt like (which just so happened to be a picture of Elvis singing in some concert.)

Ramon's picture that he drew was more about nature. Ramon was very big on drawling nature scenes, and he always said he wished he could go to the places he saw in his head.

The picture he drew during the art class with Athena was a lush jungle with a small stream running through it. For a nine year old, Ramon's attention to detail was _very_ impressive.

"You should come to the art classes more often." Ramon grinned. "It was fun having someone to talk to there." Athena tilted her head to the side, looking at him confused. Ramon was used to the look and he couldn't help but giggle a bit at it. However, Athena questioned,

"But there are tons of people there you could talk to." Ramon looked down at his feet, shaking his head.

"I… I'm not sure about some of the people there. They don't really like me much." He whispered.

"How come?" Athena inquired, but just then two of the boys she recognized from the art class ran up from behind Ramon and one gave him a noogie while the other laughed.

"Hey there Ramy." The kid who was giving him the noogie chuckled.

"That your girlfriend?" the other taunted, but Athena pushed the one kid away from Ramon.

"Stop doing that to his head. He obviously doesn't like it." She stated firmly.

"Aw, you're so cute." The one boy taunted.

"D'you feel special being able to hang around the most _talented _kid in art class?" one of them chuckled.

"Little Ramy so special. Thinks he's better than the best of us."

"But I don't…" Ramon started to say but one of the boys pushed him to the ground.

"Listen kid, I suggest you don't hang around little Ramy." One of the boys said to Athena, while the other was laughing at how weak Ramon looked. "He brings around trouble, and you don't want trouble, do ya?"

The boys were used to the kid always saying no and never hanging out with Ramon again. Every time Ramon looked like he was about to make a friend, the two boys would bully the kid away from Ramon. Keeping Ramon alone was something the boys did for fun. Not to mention they did it out of spite, hating that Ramon's skills were better than their own.

Instead of answering the boy (who was about a half inch shorter than her) Athena pushed him to the side, and walked over to the boy who was laughing at Ramon.

"Stop laughing at him." Athena growled.

"I ain't scared of you, ya sissy girl!" the other stated. Athena stomped on his foot, sending the boy to the ground, screaming in pain.

"You should be, now you better leave Ramon alone!" Athena shouted, and the boys scrambled to his feet with the help of the other boy and the two ran off.

"Are you okay?" Athena inquired gently. Ramon stared at her in shock.

"You didn't leave me." he whispered and she smiled at him.

"Of course I wouldn't leave you. You're my best friend." Athena smiled as she held out her hand for Ramon to grasp.

She swung it back and forth, humming a song as if she had not just intimidated the boys who had been torturing Ramon for the past several years.

"Hey, Athena?"

"Yeah?"

"I know you told Mom that the people who used to look after you were really mean, but what did they do?" he inquired.

"I… I don't really want to talk about it." Athena informed in a soft voice, looking at the ground. Ramon immediately wished that he didn't ask.

"Well, how about the people you stay with now. I mean, I know about Dick, but what about your new Dad. How is he like?" Ramon inquired quickly, trying to cover up his previous question.

Athena's face instantly brightened as she thought of all her Fathers (excluding Clark). However, she knew that when living in Gotham, she only had one "father" which was Bruce Wayne.

Bruce never flaunted the fact that he was caring for a young girl, but he didn't hide it either. He had over a billion cover stories as to why a little girl was staying with him if he was ever asked.

"My father's great. He really cares for me and always wants me to be safe and happy. I feel lucky that I'm able to have him as a father." She informed, but noticed the small sad look on Ramon's face. Ramon lost his father and never got to spend much time with him. It left an empty hole in the young boy.

"Do you want to stop at the candy shop, Ramon?" Athena inquired, pulling out a five dollar bill from her pocket. "We can get some lollipops and skittles." She smiled, and Ramon smiled back at her.

"Thank you, Athena." he grinned, but the thank you was for much more than the candy.

Athena just swung their hands with a small spring her step to whatever Elvis song was playing in her head.

"No, thank _you_." Athena smiled, then walked into the candy store before Ramon could question,

"Thanks for what?"


	22. Chapter 22

**Hello! Sorry it took me awhile for an update.**

**I just wanted to let you guys know in this that Ra's was not the climax. there is still the matter who her other DNA donor is who wants her dead. **

**Sorry i know that i havent been focusing on that, but i'm getting to it. **

**Also, i don't know who knows me very personally or who reads comic books, but i am a Stephanie Brown fan, and she is my hero. She was supposed to appear in the new smallville series, but was changed to Barbra. I have nothing against Babs in the comics, but DC is making it very hard to like her. *sigh* Young Justice is my only sanctuary. **

**So anyway, if you guys like Stephanie brown there is a thing called "waffles for steph." Please look up some info on it if you want to do something about Stephanie. **

**Sorry, i cried for a good while when i found out she was being replaced.**

**Please share with me in a brief moment of silence for Steph. **

**... **

**Anyway, sorry for my ranting, so now... ON TO THE CHAPTER!**

Chpt.22

Athena didn't want to admit it, but she was having fun. She knew that Bruce most likely wouldn't be happy about it, but she couldn't help herself from having fun. Plus, Wonder Woman and Black Canary said it was okay. So that made everything fine… right?

Wonder Woman, and Black Canary decided to have a mothers daughter day with Athena.

When they told Bruce this, the man figured that they might take her hiking or shopping, or something that a moms would usually do with their daughters.

Teaching the girl how to fight completely slipped Bruce's mind.

They were at Black Canary's fighting studio in Star City, where the woman would often train with her mentor, Wild Cat.

"That was a good punch, Athena." Black Canary grinned after their sparring.

"You have the makings of becoming a fine warrior." Wonder Woman nodded and Athena couldn't help but smile.

"Thank you. That was a lot of fun." Black Canary patted the girl's back.

"Of course it's fun." She laughed. "You have warrior blood in you."

Athena looked at her hands, briefly wondering what the difference was between warrior blood and regular blood.

Wonder Woman and Black Canary quickly had the girl shower up, and walked to a diner down the street in there civvies along with Athena, and they had a seat.

To Athena, Wonder Woman was Mother, and Black Canary was Mom. Both the women welcomed the names and smiled every time Athena used them.

"Mother, how old were you when you learned how to fight?" Athena inquired, and Wonder Woman chuckled.

"Very young. I held my sword the day I learned how to walk." Wonder Woman nodded with a small smile on her face. she was obviously proud of the fact.

"What about you, Mom?" Athena questioned, and Black Canary shrugged.

"I was around six years old. I started training after I accidently screamed in my first grade class. I never knew what my Canary Cry could do, but when that happened I took an oath of silence for a very long time." she informed.

Athena's face dropped slightly.

"I'm afraid of hurting people." She said in a small voice. "Superman thinks…"

"Do _not_ listen to him." Wonder Woman stated sternly, cutting her off.

Most of the league wasn't happy with how Superman was dealing with Athena. Batman tried talking to him, but Superman wouldn't have it. Batman seemed to be the only one who had the bravery to talk to Superman about Athena when it came to the men.

However, both women were _very _defensive mothers.

The moment she found out, Black Canary yelled at Clark for a good hour, not caring if he was listening or not. She shouted until Green Arrow came by and told her to give it a rest, gently trying to calm her down.

Needless to say, nobody wanted to mess with Black Canary that day.

Wonder Woman had a different way of letting Superman know of her disappointment. She would only talk to him in battles and important league business. However, when they weren't in an important meeting or fighting, he was but breath and shadow.

"Don't worry about what Superman says, alright Athena?" Black Canary smiled at her and she smiled back, but still looked a bit unnerved.

"I got some super strength a few days ago." She informed in a whisper.

"Super strength?" Wonder Woman questioned, and she nodded.

"I picked up Da-Conner, and I don't know how." She stated. Athena stopped herself from calling Conner "Dad" in front of the women, because she wasn't sure how they'd react to her calling Superboy Dad before even calling Superman by the name.

However, the two didn't seem to mind the slip up and didn't even care that she saw Conner as a Father figure. To be honest, they saw him as a better father figure than Superman.

"I'm sure it will be alright, Athena." Black Canary tried giving her a comforting smile, but Athena frowned.

"I keep on getting these abilities. It seems like I'm getting a new one every week. I don't want to be some sort of walking weapon. I don't want all these abilities." She whispered, but Wonder Woman placed a hand on the girl's arm.

"You will never be a weapon in our eyes. We know you are a good person, Athena." Wonder Woman said in a strong voice. "And we are here for you to help you through your abilities."

"Thank you." Athena whispered, hugging Wonder Woman.

Athena loved her mothers. They filled a hole that was in her heart that nobody could ever fill. It was the hole that a mother could only fix.

~*~*~*~*~*~Later that Day~*~*~*~*~*~

Athena skipped happily, walking with Ramon back from one of his art classes. She often made trips to the art studio with him, and Ramon didn't mind the company at all.

With Athena, Ramon felt like he mattered as a person, and Ramon's mother felt like Athena was a blessing. Her son was actually _smiling_ around the house.

"What's that?" Athena inquired, looking up at the sky.

Ramon followed her gaze and smiled.

"That's a rainbow." He answered, and Athena's eyes were locked onto it, as if in a trance.

"Rainbow." She whispered. She read about them in books but she never saw one in person, and Ramon could tell.

"You never saw one before?" the boy questioned, and Athena shook her head.

"No. Do they mean anything?" she inquired.

"No. but they're nice to look at." Ramon shrugged, and Athena grinned.

"Yeah. They are." She said in agreeance.

The two stared at the rainbow until it slowly faded away.

"We better start heading back to my house." Ramon informed as he reached down and grasped Athena's hand. Holding hands with Athena became something that Ramon became used to.

Athena swung their clasped hands happily, however clouds rolled in over the city and it started to pour down rain.

The two ran through the streets, looking for shelter as the rain soaked their clothing. Ramon really wished he listened to his mother about bringing an umbrella.

"Let's go in here." Ramon stated as he pulled Athena into an alley, which provided some shelter.

"We'll finish heading back once the rain lets up." Ramon informed, and Athena nodded. However, she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back, further into the alley, and she could see that the same was happening to Ramon.

They were turned around and in front of them was a group of younger men who were smirking at them.

"What do we have here?" one questioned, with a gruff voice.

"Looks to me like a wimpy little boy and a cute little girl." Another one of the men said, eyeing the two with an evil smile.

Athena and Ramon were easily cornered by the group. Athena quickly stood in front of Ramon protectively. He was her friend, and _nobody_ was going to do anything malicious to her friend.

"Don't hurt us." Athena growled, and the men laughed.

"We may hurt the boy, but you, on the other hand, we'll be more gentle with." One man smirked as he grabbed Athena's wrist.

Athena wasn't going to let _anything _happen to Ramon.

"Let go of my wrist." She said in a threatening tone. The man just laughed at her.

Athena used moves that she had learned earlier that day from her mothers, punching the man hard, breaking his nose.

During her next punch, she accidently used some telekinesis behind it, making the man fly backwards, colliding with another one of the men. Two other men came running at her, and she kicked one in the groin and flipped the other onto his back.

Athena then turned to look at Ramon.

"C'mon, we gotta go." She stated quickly as she started to pull on Ramon's hand. Ramon's brown eyes were wide, and he seemed to be in complete shock. When Athena grabbed his arm, she noticed he was shaking.

Unfortunately, one of the goons were up again with his gun trained at the two.

Athena was quick to use her body as a shield for Ramon.

"You ain't so cute anymore, kid." He growled, then fired the gun.

Athena watched the bullet as it came at her, and she felt it collide with her forehead.


	23. Chapter 23

Chpt.23

Athena waited for the bullet to travel through her skull. She waited for her eye sight to turn to complete black. She waited for her breath to stop. She waited for her death.

She was sad though. She hoped that Ramon would be able to run off safely once she died, but she would miss him. And she would miss all of her mothers and fathers, and Dick, and everyone else on the team. She didn't want to die, but she was fine if she died protecting her friend.

She wished she could hug Conner one more time though.

She waited to be nothing but a body lying on the ground.

However… she remained upright. She looked down to notice the bullet that collided with her forehead crumpled and hit the ground.

The man's eyes widened and he fired several more bullets at Athena, which followed in suit as the first, crumpling against her skin and falling to the ground.

"What _are _you?" the man questioned in a terrified whispered, having used up all his bullets on the girl.

Athena looked at the man with hatred.

"You were going to hurt Ramon!" she exclaimed, glaring intensely at the man. She started floating off the ground and her eyes were glowing red. Her eyes felt warm, as if at any moment something was going to shoot out of them. However, she kept whatever was going to shoot out back.

The man sprinted away, running for his life, and Athena stayed where she was.

"Athena?" Ramon questioned, gently pulling Athena down by her foot. The girl looked at Ramon and her glowing eyes disappeared.

"Ramon." She whispered, realizing that she blew her cover right in front of the boy. Her eyes then widened. "P-please don't freak out." She stuttered. . _Ramon knows! But… but what will Bruce say? What will everyone think? I'm going to be in so much trouble! I didn't mean for it to happen! What if I won't be able to see Ramon anymore? What if Ramon tells people! _She thought in horror.

"That was amazing!" Ramon exclaimed, his fear melting away into a smile.

"Shhh! You can't tell anyone!" Athena warned

"Well duh." Ramon said in an obvious tone. "You could be a Superhero! And people can't know who superheroes really are. Did you fall in toxic waste or something?" he inquired,

"N-no." Athena whispered. She didn't know what to do since Ramon now knew that she wasn't a normal girl.

"So you were just born with it?" he questioned, and Athena shrugged.

"Kinda… I-I guess." Ramon raised an eyebrow, realizing how nervous his friend seemed to be acting. She looked like she was about to cry.

"What's wrong?" Ramon inquired. "You're really quiet, and you look sad."

"No one's supposed to know about this." Athena informed in a hushed whisper.

"I won't tell, I swear! I'll promise on the bible! I'll take it to the grave!" the boy said, putting his right hand on his heart and left hand in the air. "I swear!"

Athena looked at the boy in surprise.

"Really?" she questioned in a whisper.

"Of course. You're my best friend. You're the only real friend I've ever had, and I'd never betray my friend." Ramon informed with a small smile, and found himself in another one of her bone crushing hugs.

"Thank you, Ramon." She whispered, and the boy hugged her back.

"No problem, Athena."

~*~*~*~*~*~Elsewhere~*~*~*~*~*~

"You still haven't found her!" the man exclaimed and Milo sighed.

"Apparently Ra's had her for a period of time, but she got away." The scientist informed, and the man pinched the bridge of his nose, then ran a hand through his slicked back red hair.

"Find her and _finish_ her. I will not tolerate a failed project with my DNA on the loose."

"We are _trying_ Mr…"

"Well try harder!" the man cut off, storming towards the door.

"Where are you going? You could help us." Milo stated, and the man glared at the scientist.

"I have an invitation to a charity event to go to, and I have to look nice." He informed. "I can't go there looking horrible when I'm supposedly on vacation." The man stated, then left.

~*~*~*~*~*~In Gotham~*~*~*~*~*~

Dick noticed the troubled look on Athena's face when he was tucking the girl in.

"Ramon knows." Athena informed Dick in a quiet voice. Dick's eyes widened, and before he could say anything, Athena said, "We got pulled into an alleyway and these men were going to hurt us, and one shot me but it didn't penetrate my skin, and then the men ran away, but I was floating, and Ramon saw, but he swears not to tell, but I'm so sorry that I didn't keep my abilities under control, and-"

"It's okay." Dick said quietly, hugging the girl. Athena didn't even realize that halfway through her explanation, she was crying.

Dick understood how this most likely scared the girl. He knew that she loved Ramon as a friend, and didn't want them to be separated. She also didn't want Bruce to be angry with her for letting her abilities get out of control, but given the situation, Dick understood how showing her abilities was unavoidable.

She was _shot_, but apparently Superman's invincibility kicked in. Dick was grateful for that. He couldn't imagine what would happen if he found out Athena had died.

"Did you explain to Ramon what happened?" Dick questioned, and the girl nodded, however she was looking down at her feet.

"I told him why I had to be kept a secret." She informed quietly. "He doesn't seem to mind. He actually thinks it's kind of cool, but he promised he won't tell anyone. He even swore on the bible." Athena said, thinking back to what happened when they got back to Ramon's house.

"I'll talk to Bruce about it." Dick sighed, but then gave Athena a small smile. "Don't worry, it'll be alright."

He tucked Athena under the covers and gently kissed her forehead.

"You get some sleep. It's been a long day." He whispered, and Athena nodded, letting her head sink into the pillow.

"Good night Nii-san." Athena said with a small yawn. "Love you."

"Love you too, Athena." he whispered, then turned off her light, and headed to the door.

However, outside the door stood Bruce.

"You heard all of that?" he whispered, and the older man nodded. "Well, what are you thinking of doing?" he inquired.

"I trust the Ramon boy." Bruce nodded. "And his mother. I might have to pay them a visit." He informed as he walked downstairs towards the Batcave.

"Bruce, you're not thinking about threatening them." Dick whispered.

"Who said anything about threatening them?" Bruce questioned, then headed into the Batcave.

~*~*~*~*~*~Later That Night~*~*~*~*~*~

There was a knock on the door, and Ramon woke up. Nobody knocked this late at night. He walked to where the door was, and reached over to open the handle, but pulled away, remembering what his mother said about what to do when people knocked at the door.

He cautiously grabbed the baseball bat next to the door, and grabbed the door handle. However, before he opened it, his mom came running into the room.

"Ramon, hand me the bat." She whispered, and he did so. He hid behind his mother as she opened the door.

To his surprise, on their doorstep stood _the _Batman.

"Hello Mrs. Colón. I am sorry for how late it is, but I need to talk to you and your son." He stated.

Ramon's mom held the baseball bat, unsure, but let the man into the house.

"What do you want?" she questioned, standing in front of Ramon, ready to defend him.

"This is about Ramon's friend, Athena." he informed.

"Athena?" Ramon questioned, and Mrs. Colón's eyes widened, and she lowered the baseball bat.

"Is she alright? What happened." Batman noticed the woman's sudden concern, and felt more positive about what he was going to do.

"She is alright, but we need to talk about her." He informed. Ramon's mother looked slightly confused, but slowly nodded her head.

"Okay. What do you need to talk to us about?" Batman beckoned to a chair for her to sit on and she did so, still holding Ramon's hand tightly, along with the baseball bat. She still didn't know if she could trust the man.

"Today Ramon saw something that Athena was supposed to hide…" Batman then went on to tell Ramon and his mother Athena's story. How she was a failed project that was saved from Cadmus, and how Cadmus wanted her destroyed and how she was no longer a failed project. He also mentioned how Athena had part of his DNA in her, making him her somewhat father.

"I trust that you will not tell _anyone_ about what happened to her?" he questioned.

"Yes. I promise I won't tell anyone." Ramon's mother nodded.

"Me too. I already swore on the bible earlier." Ramon informed.

"Thank you for your cooperation." Batman then went to look at Mrs. Colón. "Athena enjoys your son's company and she still wishes to remain friends."

"Our door is always open for her." Ramon's mother nodded. "If she needs a place to hide if she gets into any danger, she can come here. I won't let anyone hurt her." Ramon's mother meant it too. Batman could see the determination in her eyes. She was a mother who would _kill_ to protect the people she loved.

"Thank you Indira." He nodded, using Ramon's mother's first name. As he headed back to the doorway, he whispered quietly,

"And Indira, tell whoever erased the information on your gang life from your record that they did a very good job at it."

Indira's eyes widened, and Batman was quickly gone.

"What did he say, Mom?" Ramon inquired, but she shook her head.

"Nothing, Ramon. You should be getting back to bed." She stated, kissing the boy on his head, and he ran back to his room.

Indira looked outside, then slowly closed her door, locking it.


	24. Chapter 24 hopefully this chapter loads

**If you don't know the comics, i don't think some of you will know who Athena's other "father" is, however, he is DC's and not mine. i am not taking an credit for the character because he is not mine. However, he is a great character and if you don't know about him, i suggest wikiing (that's not a word but i'm making it now. the act of going on Wikipedia to look something up) him because he really is a cool character. **

**Please enjoy and tell me what you think. :)**

**L.L.A.P**

**~Laces**

Chpt.24

Athena sighed as she looked over at Ramon. They were in his room, drawling.

"You look worried." Ramon informed, and she nodded.

"I am." She sighed. "This charity thing is going on tonight at Wayne Manor and Bruce wants me to make an appearance. He says he will officially announce that he adopted me." the girl informed.

"Why is that something to worry about?" Ramon inquired, and Athena let out a heavy sigh.

"I can think of a number of things that could go wrong." She whispered.

Her flight accidently going off, her laser eyes frying everyone, her super strength breaking someone in two, her telekinesis throwing everyone back, or maybe a completely new power would go off and hurt people. She was terrified that something terrible would happen to the people due to her.

"Hey, I'm sure everything is going to be okay." Ramon smiled. "The only time your powers went off when you were around me was when you were shot. Do you plan on getting shot at this charity thing?" the boy inquired.

"Well… no…"

"Then you have nothing to worry about." Ramon grinned. Athena's worried look melted away and she smiled at the boy.

"I guess you're right."

Athena then laid on her back, her head resting lightly on Ramon's back as the boy continued to draw, unfazed by the girl lying on him. She then hummed lightly to herself happily.

"Do you ever sing out loud?" Ramon inquired. Athena quickly shook her head.

"No. I'm too scared." She informed.

"By the way you hum, I think you have a beautiful voice. I can't think of anything you could be scared about." Ramon shrugged.

"What if I sound horrible though?" the girl questioned.

"I don't think that's possible. Can I hear you sing?" Ramon inquired with a small smile.

Athena was quiet for a moment, and Ramon figured that she truly was too afraid to sing out loud.

"**Lord almighty,**

**I feel my temperature rising**

**Higher higher**

**Its burning through to my soul…"** Ramon smiled, listening to Athena sing as he continued to draw. Suddenly all those Elvis pictures that Athena drew started to make sense.

"**Girl, girl, girl**

**You gonna set me on fire**

**My brain is flaming**

**I don't know which way to go." **

_Athena, your voice is so pretty._ Ramon thought.

"**Your kisses lift me higher**

**Like the sweet song of a choir**

**You light my morning sky**

**With burning love."**

Ramon waited for her to keep singing, but Athena was completely silent.

"Sorry." She whispered. "I probably sound really bad." Ramon looked up from his picture and looked over at her.

"You sound really pretty." Ramon smiled, and quickly felt the girl hugging him tightly.

"Really?" he heard her whisper in a small voice.

"Of course. I will never lie to you." He informed, and Athena hugged him tighter. Ramon smiled at her bashful look. He didn't see her look so shy before except for the first day he met her, and that was only for a few moments.

"What are you drawing?" she questioned, however she was still hugging him tightly. She was trying to get off the topic of her singing, and Ramon knew it. But he wasn't just going to let it drop.

"Athena, you have a really pretty voice." Ramon stated seriously. "You sound great, and you should sing out loud more. Didn't you like singing in front of me?" he inquired.

"Yes." She nodded. "But I was scared too."

"You shouldn't be scared of singing. It's what you do when you're happy, and you're happy a lot. You should always sing." Ramon smiled.

"What songs do you like?" Athena questioned in a soft voice.

"Anything really." Ramon shrugged. Athena was silent for a moment, like she was thinking. She then questioned,

"Do you like Elvis?"

"Yes. I like Elvis." Ramon nodded. Athena was quiet again for another moment. She then took in a deep breath.

"So… so if I sang you one of my favorite songs… you wouldn't mind?" she questioned timidly, and Ramon smiled.

"I'd love to hear your favorite song."

Athena sighed, trying to remember the words even though she had them memorized. Singing in front of someone just made her all the more nervous.

**"When you're weary **

**Feeling small **

**When tears are in your eyes **

**I will dry them all"** Athena paused to look at Ramon, and he was looking at her with a rapt expression on his face, smiling at her.

**"I'm on your side **

**When times get rough **

**And friends just can't be found **

**Like a bridge over troubled water **

**I will lay me down **

**Like a bridge over troubled water **

**I will lay me down." **she looked at him, waiting for the criticism. Instead, Ramon questioned,

"So, you'll be my bridge over troubled water?" Athena pause for a moment, but then smiled at him.

"Yes. You're my friend. I'll always be your bridge over troubled water." She grinned.

"Me too." Ramon nodded. "I will lay me down."

The two laughed together, and then Athena saw what Ramon was drawling. It was a picture of her with that shy look on her face. And in the picture, he drew her with wavy black hair and green and blue eyes.

Because Ramon and his mom knew her secret, Athena was allowed to be out of disguise in their house.

"You like me better with Black hair?" Athena inquired.

"I think you're pretty as both, but I do like you when you look like yourself." He informed.

Athena looked at the picture, and smiled at how it looked so much like her.

"Ramon, when you become a famous artist, can I be invited to your first art show?" she inquired and Ramon chuckled.

"As long as I can come to your first singing concert."

~*~*~*~*~*~Later At Wayne Manor~*~*~*~*~*~

Athena placed her contacts into her eyes and placed the wig onto her head, bobby pinning it into place.

She looked into the mirror, eyeing her reflection. She was wearing a red dress with long sleeves and black stockings, covering up her scars.

Bruce walked into the room and gave the girl a warm grin.

If it were up to him, he would still try to keep Athena a secret from society, but there were many rumors speculating how there was a little girl living in the manor and some pictures from nosey reporters were taken, so Bruce figured it was better that he just come out that he adopted Athena.

"Are you ready?" he inquired, and Athena nodded, running up to Bruce, holding his hand tightly.

The Charity banquet was trying to raise money for a Foundation that helped children who were abused.

Athena noticed how people were staring at her and whispering. She felt like she wanted to disappear. However, Bruce gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and she walked closer to him.

"May I have everyone's attention?" Bruce questioned in a higher suave voice. He sounded different than he usually did. More innocent, and a little stupid. All eyes were on him and the small girl gripping his hand.

"I know there have been rumors about me having a girl here." He informed. "And they are true. This is the new member of my family, Athena Laurel Prince."

There was polite clapping, and soft murmuring throughout the men and women.

"She was the one who gave me the idea to raise money for the Foundation of Abused Children because Athena was abused in her previous family." Bruce informed. "So let's give her a warm welcome and raise money for other children like her." He smiled, and the group clapped politely, then went on to their conversations.

"Now what do I do?" Athena inquired in a soft voice.

"Stay close to me or Dick, and try to have a good time." Bruce informed, and Athena nodded, holding Bruce's hand tightly.

Athena quickly found out what Bruce meant by saying to _try_ to have a good time. Bruce or "Brucie" as the women called him, was always pulled aside, talking to old acquaintances and when Dick was there to watch over her, he was quickly chased by women.

It was only a matter of time before Athena was alone.

Athena was looking for either Dick or Bruce. She didn't want to disobey Bruce's orders of staying close to him, but she just couldn't find him through the mass of talking rich people.

"Vikki Vale, Gotham Gazette." A woman with bright orange hair smiled, quickly in front of the girl once she was spotted. "Would you care to answer some questions, Miss Athena?" she questioned.

"Actually, I…"

"Great." The reporter cut off. "So, what is it like to live with Bruce Wayne?" she inquired.

"I really can't answer questions right now. I have to find Bru…"

"It's okay. You can find him after the questions." She informed, but Athena shook her head. She promised to stay near Dick or Bruce, and that was what she was going to do.

"I have to find him." she stated firmly, trying to keep her temper down as the woman opened her mouth again, still not moving to let Athena through.

"You can find him later. So, how is living with Bruce different from your old family?"

"Ms. Vale, I really can't…"

"You can answer a simple question, can't you?" Vikki Vale was trying to be sweet, and appealing to the young girl, but Athena wouldn't be having it.

"It's none of your business." Athena stated.

"Come now…"

"Stop harassing the girl." A man stated, and the woman looked at him with a glare. "Can't you see she obviously doesn't like you pressuring her."

The woman huffed, then walked off. She figured that she'd have other opportunities to get the scoop on the girl.

Athena looked up at the man and he had a warm smile on his face. His face was angular and his hair was a dark red that was slicked back. His eyes were a deep emerald green. In fact, his eyes were the exact same color as Athena's one green eye.

However, he seemed familiar. Somehow.

"Are you alright?" he inquired. Athena nodded mutely, and the man smiled at her.

"You are Bruce's newly adopted girl, aren't you?" Athena nodded once again.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm one of Bruce's old friends. My name is…" just then a woman accidently fell backwards, and her glass of water flew back and hit Athena in the face, some of it getting in the girl's eyes.

"I am so sorry." The woman apologized.

"It's okay." Athena smiled, but rubbed her eyes, her contacts now irritated.

The woman went back to mingling with her group, and the man noticed how Athena's eyes seemed to be bothering her.

"Athena are you… alright?" he questioned, and he noticed how one of the contacts fell out of her eye due to the irritation, revealing a blue eye. The other contact followed shortly, revealing a green eye that was identical to his. The view was brief, and Athena quickly put her contacts back in, but the man still _saw._

He slowly smiled.

_Project Power. How nice it is to finally meet you._ He thought.

"I'm okay." Athena nodded.

"Well, that is great to hear." He grinned. "Now, my name is Thomas Elliot." He informed, taking pride in his name. "And I believe I saw Bruce outside. I can show you to him if you like." The man smiled, and Athena grinned.

"Thank you, Mr. Elliot." She said, grateful for the man's help.

"You can call me Tommy if you like." He informed as he walked outside, Athena following closely behind.

"So, where is Bru-" Thomas Elliot hit Athena in a nerve spot. Perks of being a doctor was that he knew the body very well.

Athena's vision slowly started to fade as she drifted into unconsciousness. The last thing she heard was Elliot whispering,

"Hush."


	25. weird computer

**My computer started acting weird and things, but chapter 24 should be up. I had to load it twice and it was just weird how my computer was acting. Sorry for any confusion! **

**L.L.A.P**

**~Laces**


	26. Chapter 25

**Please enjoy and tell me what you think :)**

**L.L.A.P**

**~Laces**

Chpt.25

"Have you seen Athena?" Dick questioned to Bruce once he was finally able to get away from the women chasing him, due to the fact that everyone was leaving. Bruce raised an eyebrow.

"I thought she was with you." Bruce stated.

"She was until Dr. Maxwell's twin daughters laid their eyes on me. Athena and I got separated so I figured she found you." Dick explained.

"I've been talking to people about Wayne Industries latest development. I haven't seen Athena since I introduced her." Bruce informed, and Dick's eyes widened.

"Do you think she's okay? Maybe she's with Alfred." Dick said, quickly running off to find the older man.

Something wasn't right. Bruce could feel it, and when the last of his guests tricked out of his home, Bruce ran straight to Athena's bedroom to see if she was there.

He looked around the room seeing the girl's CDs, and Ralph, but there was no trace of her.

"Alfred says he hasn't seen her." Dick informed, running up to Bruce. The man took in a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves.

He ran down to the Batcave with Dick following him. Bruce quickly turned on the computer to the recorded video footage of the manor from his cameras, and started rewinding them.

"You have the place bugged?" Dick questioned in surprise.

"Would you expect any less from me?" Bruce said as his eyes were glued on the screen. He then hit play when he saw Athena walking through the crowd.

He could see Vikki Vale talking to her, and Bruce could see from Athena's body language that she wanted to get away.

Bruce sighed when he saw his childhood friend walk into the frame. Bruce was happy that Tommy was there to get Vikki Vale to back off.

_Wait… why didn't I see Tommy there? He never said hello. _Bruce thought, then watched as Athena's contacts fell out, and how Tommy looked intrigued. Bruce then watched as Tommy took Athena outside, and they never came back in.

"Wait, did that guy just…" Dick started, but Bruce already had his phone out, calling Tommy's phone.

"Tommy? Tom?" all he got was his old friend's voice mail. Bruce turned to look at Dick.

"Call in all the help we can get."

~*~*~*~*~*~Elsewhere~*~*~*~*~*~

Athena slowly blinked her eyes open and realized that she had handcuffs binding her wrists behind her back and she was in somebody's arms.

She looked around the room to notice that it looked like a lab. There were tanks of water, and tools scattering desks along with new weapons that looked like they were still in their prototype phase.

She also felt her black hair brushing against her cheek, meaning her wig was taken off, and she could feel that her contacts were out. Her disguise was completely _gone_.

She looked up at the man holding her. It was Thomas Elliot.

"Mr… Elliot?" she questioned, confused. Elliot acted to kind to her at the party, and he said that he was one of Bruce's friends. Why was he doing this?

"Yes. Otherwise known as your _other _DNA donor." He grinned.

"Other? So you're partially my fa-"

"Not for long." He stated, cutting her off. He obviously didn't want the girl to call him father. He looked at her as if she were that annoying piece of gum under his shoe. "I will not be associated with a failed project." He stated as he dropped the girl onto the floor. Eliot then looked up passed Athena , and smiled.

"Project Power, I believe you remember Dr. Milo."

Athena followed the man's gaze to see Dr. Milo in the flesh, walking calmly into the room. He looked at Athena and smiled at her.

"Hello Project Power. It's been awhile." He nodded, but he didn't look too happy that Elliot managed to find her before one of his men.

Milo had two Cadmus guards reach down and pick up Athena so that she was standing on her feet.

"Let me go!" Athena shouted as she struggled against the guards holding her. She wish she knew how to activate her super strength.

"My, you have gotten quiet verbal since you've last been here." Dr. Milo informed with a smirk.

Athena glared at the scientist, and this made Milo chuckle in amusement.

"Well, why prolong this any further?" Elliot questioned. "I believe she knows about the incinerator."

Milo smirked at the girl.

"Yes, she does. She knows that the incinerator is the best way to get rid of a failed project." Athena's anger boiled over.

"I AM NOT A FAILED PROJECT!" she screamed, throwing one of the guards across the room, and the other she threw right into Elliot.

Her eyes then settled on Milo, glowing red.

"Now… Now P-project Power…"Milo stuttered, backing up, and the girl exclaimed,

"It's _Athena_!"

"Athena." Milo stated quickly. "D-don't do something you'll regret." He warned.

"I'm not going to kill you." Athena growled, but then her eyes laid on one of the unconscious guard's guns.

She picked up the weapon and Milo's eyes widened.

"N-Now… Pro… Athena… you should put that down… it's a dangerous weap-AH!" Milo exclaimed as the girl shot him in the arm.

"I _know_ what this is!" Athena exclaimed, shooting him in the arm again. "It's similar to the gun _you_ used to shoot me!"

Athena then grabbed the man by his hair and dragged him over to a tank of water. She quickly floated above it, carrying the scientist with her, then dropped him in the water.

As he went under, Athena pressed on his head, refusing to let him come up for air. After several moments passed, she pulled the man out of the water, coughing and sputtering.

Athena then threw him back on the ground and wrapped her hands around his neck, squeezing slightly. Her eyes narrowed and her hands shook as she held Dr. Milo by his neck.

"Do I look like a failure to you _know_!" Athena exclaimed.

"No!" Milo stammered. "N-No Project Pow…"

"I'm not a project!" Athena screamed, and Milo was shaking, truly terrified of the girl.

She brought the man closer to her face.

"Why didn't your skin deflect the bullets when I shot you, Milo? Why? And why can't you breath underwater, Milo? Why can't you do the things you forced me to endure? Should I throw _you_ in the incinerator as punishment for being such a _Failure_. It's obviously your _fault_ that you can't do those things." She looked at the man was pure hatred and disgust. "Such _failure_."

Athena watched as the man who made her childhood a living hell started to sob.

"You are a sad pitiful man." Athena growled, squeezing the man's throat harder, making it difficult for him to breath.

"You wanted me to be some kind of weapon, a killer." She stated, then threw the man on the ground.

"But I won't kill you." She glared at the man who was gasping for air like a fish out of water on the ground. "You won't make a killer out of me." Athena growled, fists shaking, fighting with herself eternally. She wanted to kill him so _bad_.

"No matter how much I want to kill you, I _won't_."

She looked down at her hands, that were red from the blood that was oozing from Milo's arm where she had shot him.

She didn't like the feel of the blood on her hands. It made her stomach feel sick and she got a sour taste in her mouth.

"Well that's a shame." Elliot stated, picking up a gun from the guard that crashed into him. "That means that even though you have abilities, you'll be no use." He shot his gun, and it hit Athena's shoulder. However, it crumpled on her skin and fell to the ground.

"You are one of my _fathers_ and you want me dead?" Athena questioned, and Elliot looked at her, shocked that her skin was able to deflect the bullet. He then gave her a small smile.

"Yes." He chuckled darkly. "I don't like family too much. I killed my father, I tried to kill my mother. And you, my created somewhat daughter, are a complete failure. A weapon that doesn't want to kill and at first wasn't even capable of it at all. Of course I want to kill you." He informed as he slowly backed up to a desk where several new weapons were.

"You're a horrible man." Athena stated, and this just made Elliot smile even more.

"Thank you." He grinned, then grabbed one of the guns on the table and shot it at her. It looked like an energy blast, and Athena wasn't sure if she could deflect it.

However, in a blink of an eye, somebody was in front of her, deflecting the bullet.

"Conner?" Athena whispered, but then noticed the suit. "Superman?" she questioned with surprise.

"Batman decided to send everyone out to find you. He said that you managed to somehow get yourself kidnapped again." Superman stated, and Athena frowned. He didn't sound too relieved to see her still alive.

"Ah, Superman." Elliot chuckled. "Milo created just the thing for you." He reached back behind him and grabbed another gun. "A kryptonite gun. Sure, it's still in the prototype phase, but I think it'll get the job done." He smiled, and shot the green bullet.

Athena saw how Clark was weakened by the chunk of rock's presence. He probably didn't feel it before due to the lead lining in the gun.

Superman couldn't move quick enough to get out of the bullet's way. But Athena knew she could.

Athena jumped in front of Superman, and the bullet sunk into her stomach, making her cry out in pain.

"Well that was unexpectedly pleasant." Elliot smiled, then ran out of building. He knew that Superman wouldn't chase after him when he had to worry about Athena.

Athena groaned as she could feel the kryptonite burning inside of her. She felt as if the rock was scorching her insides as if it were on fire. She might have had some munity to the rock at a distance, but close up she was just as weak as Superman was with the rock.

"Athena?" Superman questioned shocked that the girl had just took a bullet for him.

"I don't feel good." Athena whispered, and Superman held her gingerly in his arms.

"You were hit by a Kryptonite bullet." He informed in a small voice, but the girl didn't seem to comprehend it. Her face showed the pain that she was feeling. Small tears streaked her face, and she was twitching slightly as blood seeped from her wound.

"Conner?" Athena questioned, feeling dizzy. Superman shook his head.

"No, this is Super… this is Clark." He informed in a gentle voice, however, Athena didn't seem to hear him.

"Conner… is S-Superman okay?" she inquired. Her right hand was gripping onto Clark's arm tightly.

"Yes… I'm fine Athena. but you're hurt." He stated. The alien could see the kryptonite in her stomach, but he knew he couldn't remove it himself. Where was Bruce when you needed him.

He needed to get her to a hospital. Clark still felt weak from the kryptonite's presence, but he could still fly.

"Conner?" Athena questioned while Clark was flying.

"It's Clark, Athena." he corrected, but the girl couldn't comprehend that it was him.

"D-Do you think Sssssuperman loves m-me?" she inquired, and Clark's heart sank.

"Of course I love you, Athena. I just… I was… I wasn't being fair to you. I thought you weren't to be trusted, but you proved yourself Athena. I was wrong."

Athena's body softened slightly along with her grip on his arm, and Clark's eyes widened.

"Come on Athena, stay with me. we're almost at the hospital, just stay with me." he pleaded.

"I-I am happy… to ha-ve been conssssidered a p-person." She stuttered in a weak voice. "Can I b-be burrrrried like one t-to?"

"Don't give up, Athena!" Clark exclaimed.

"Athena Laurel Prince." She whispered. "I-I liiiike th-that name. C-can it be on m-my tombssssssssstone. In… instead of p-project power?"

"Athena, we're almost there!" Clark exclaimed urgently.

"I-I am hap-py to have l-lived. T-to have b-been cre-at-ed." She whispered, the slowly closed her eyes.

"Athena? Athena!" Clark laid eyes on the hospital and busted into it. People stared at the man of steel in surprise, but he didn't care, and shouted,

"THIS GIRL NEEDS MEDICAL HELP _NOW_!"


	27. Chapter 26

**Sorry for the meh-ness of this chapter. Please enjoy and tell me what you think :)**

**L.L.A.P**

**~Laces**

Chpt.26

"He visits everyday with the boy." the nurse informed and Batman nodded. It had been three days since Athena was operated on, and she was visited by the league often. However, she had not woken up since the operation.

Batman walked into the hospital room with Superboy behind him. They were welcomed by the sound of the slow and steady beeping of Athena's heartbeat hooked up to the monitor.

Already in the room was Superman and Ramon.

Ramon was drawing in a sketchbook while Superman was staring at Athena's unmoving body.

"How's she doing?" Conner inquired, looking at Athena with concern.

"She hasn't moved." Clark sighed.

"How have you been doing?" Batman inquired, and Superman stood from his feet, walking closer to Batman and Superboy.

"She took a bullet for _me_. A man who she thought hated her." He said in a low voice. He then shook his head. "When I was taking her here, she thought I was you." He informed, looking at Conner. "And she was talking about if _Superman_ was okay, and if _Superman_ loved her. She then started talking about how she was happy to live and how she wants to be buried and what she wanted on her tombstone. It was like she was resigned to the fact she was going to die."

"Athena's gonna be okay." Ramon stated, and everyone looked over at the quiet boy. "God _knows_ that it's not her time." Ramon looked at the older men, his eyes watering. "God has to know that she can't leave yet." Ramon shook and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "H-He has to."

Superman placed a hand gently on Ramon's shoulder. He knew that even though Ramon was being strong, he was having a hard time not breaking down.

The doctors said that until she woke up, it was very unsure whether Athena would live or die. Nobody liked the uncertainty of the situation, especially Ramon.

There was a soft nock on the door, and then it slowly opened to reveal Ramon's mother.

"How is she doing?" the woman inquired walking into the room. she coughed slightly and pulled her coat tighter across herself as she shivered.

"Nothing has changed." Superman informed, and the woman nodded sadly.

"Ramon, do you want me to bring you home now or do you want me to come back later?" she inquired.

"Can I stay her a little bit longer, Mom?" Ramon inquired, and the woman nodded, not at all surprised by the answer.

"Of course, honey. I'll be back soon." Ramon's mother said as she kissed her son lightly on his head, then turned to the doorway.

"Indira." Batman stated, and she looked over at the man. "If you want, I can take Ramon home. You should stay home and _rest_." Indira looked at Batman with surprise.

"It's only a cold…"

"But we wouldn't want it turning into anything else." Batman informed knowingly.

Indira found it uncanny how Batman knew so much about her, including how her immune system wasn't the best.

"Alright." She nodded. "Thank you, Batman." She whispered, then walked out the door.

"Mom looks a little scared of you." Ramon informed. The boy had never seen his mother afraid of anything.

"That's because she's smart." Batman replied, and Ramon didn't know what to say to that. It sounded slightly like a threat, but by the way he looked, it seemed the man really did have Ramon's mother's well-being in mind.

"What were you drawing, Ramon?" Superboy questioned, looking at the boy's sketchpad. He had to admit it, the boy did have great talent.

"I was just drawling something…" Ramon looked down, trying to hide his tears.

The picture was of him and a girl holding hands. Surrounding the two children was a gray looking city, however, in the sky was a vibrant rainbow. It was a good memory. Him holding the girl's hand and looking at the rainbow painting the sky.

Bruce stood to his feet and looked down at Ramon, the knelt in front of him.

"Everything is going to be okay." He stated, and Ramon grasped onto him tightly, crying into the man's shoulder. Batman stayed where he was, lightly patting the boy's back.

He wished he could believe his own words.

After Athena was put in the hospital and Superman explained what happened, Batman went on a tirade, searching for Thomas Elliot.

However, the man was gone, most likely in hiding.

Bruce didn't know what he was going to do if he found Elliot. He wanted to shoot him in the stomach and see how well he fared after that. He wanted to do _something_.

He hated how Athena looked. She looked _dead_. Her eyes lightly closed over her eyes, her face more pale, her smiling features wiped away. Bruce hated it. She looked like a lifeless body on a bed.

Bruce didn't want her to die, he loved her too much. However, the longer the girl slept, the more unlikely it was for her to wake up. The doctors were surprised that she had lasted _this_ long.

Conner placed the sketchpad back on the chair, and turned to look at Athena.

"Y'know, she asked if she could call me Dad." Conner whispered. "It was strange, but… I liked it." the clone whispered.

"She called you Dad?" Superman questioned, and the clone nodded.

"I wish I could hear her call me it again, too." He whispered, as he brushed a stray hair off of Athena's face, and then grasped her small hand. Her heart beat was on a steady decline, and it seemed to stay that way.

"She liked Elvis." Ramon stated. "She sang to me once. She got really embarrassed about it because she doesn't think she's any good, but I think she is. I think her voice is pretty." Ramon whispered.

**"When you're weary.**

** Feeling small.**

** When tears are in your eyes.**

** I will try them all." **He sung softly, then looked up at the men. "Bridge over trouble water is her favorite song."

**"I'm on your side." **Conner sang softly along with Ramon.

**"Oh, when times get rough.**

** And friends just can't be found."**

Batman joined in with them.

**"Like a bridge over trouble water.**

** I will lay me down.**

** Like a bridge over troubled water."**

** "I will lay me down."** Superman sang softly.

Athena heart beat started to pick up as the group continued to sing.

**"Like a Bridge over troubled water." **The group sung and then another voice joined.

**"I will ease your mind." **The voice came from the small body on the bed, and everyone stared at her.

"I like that song." She whispered with a small smile, opening her eyes.

"I KNEW YOU'D BE OKAY!" Ramon exclaimed, hugging the girl tightly, and she smiled, hugging the boy back.

"Hello Ramon." She smiled. "Hello Father, Dad…" she trailed off when she saw Clark. "Hello Superman." She whispered.

Superman gave a girl a smile.

"I'm happy to see you alive." He informed. "Thank you for saving me, Athena." the girl grinned at the man. The smile he was showing her had no deception behind it. The smile was _genuine_.

Batman stood behind the group, but was relieved to see Athena breathing and awake again. She was _smiling _as well.

"I'll start calling everyone to tell them you're okay." Conner smiled, kissing the girl's forehead then taking out his cell phone to spread the good news.

"Did you see anything when you were out? What brought you back?" Ramon questioned, and Athena shrugged.

"It was dark. Then I heard you guys singing, and I woke up. That was pretty much it." The girl shrugged. Sure, it wasn't the 'White hand came down and lifted me out of the darkness with a voice saying _it's not your time_' story that Ramon was expecting, but he didn't care. His best friend was _alive_.

The boy hugged Athena tightly and the girl hugged him back.

"How long was I out for?" she inquired.

"Three days." Ramon informed, and Athena's eyes widened.

"Three days? I thought I was only out for a few minutes. Wait a sec… Mr. Elliot… Batman, Mr. Elliot… Thomas Elliot…"

"What about him, Athena?" Batman questioned. He was suddenly worried what he might have done to her. He thought he knew his friend, but he clearly didn't. Clark said that he was the one who shot the Kryptonite bullet.

"He's my other DNA donor." She informed in a hushed voice. "He told me himself. That's why he wanted me dead, I think. So he wouldn't get in trouble if someone ever took my blood and found out." She informed.

"The guy who shot you is one of your dads?" Ramon inquired, and Athena nodded. "That's messed up." The boy stated.

"I don't like him much either." She nodded.

"It will be alright, Athena." Bruce whispered, walking over to her bedside. "Just because he is one of your DNA donors doesn't mean anything. He's on the run as we speak."

Athena smiled and relaxed her head into her pillow.

"So Cadmus should be off my back for a while?" she inquired, and Batman nodded.

"Yes." Athena smiled, and Ramon hugged her.

"D'you hear that? You're safer now!" the boy exclaimed happily. The boy's face lit up. "Oh, and I drew you a picture." He informed with excitement, grabbing his sketchpad and showing it to the girl.

"I'd keep an eye on that one, Bruce." Superman said in a whisper, watching the two children. "I think that boy has a thing for her." He informed.

"If he's a smart as his mother is, he hopefully doesn't." Batman stated, crossing arm.

"And if he isn't as smart as his mother?" Superman inquired. Batman was silent, not answering the question.

"Superpapa told me you were awake!" Dick exclaimed, busting through the doors happily and running to the girl's bedside.

"Hello Nii-san." Athena smiled, and Dick ruffled her hair.

"Hello Athena. Feeling better?" the girl nodded, and Dick grinned. "It's nice to have you back, kid."


	28. Chapter 27

**LAST CHAPTER!**

**OH MY GOD IT'S THE LAST CHAPTER!**

**But i may be writing a sequel, i just gotta get the plot worked out :)**

**Please enjoy and tell me what you think**

**L.L.A.P**

**~Laces**

Chpt.27

"Now, relax and use your hands to push the water to the side, and kick your legs." Athena did as Aquaman instructed as she started to swim in the ocean. She was wearing a bathing suit tank top along with swim trunks.

Despite Cassie begging Athena to wear some "cute" two piece bathing suit, Athena still wasn't comfortable with exposing a lot of skin, so she stuck to tank top bathing suits and boy trunks.

Athena swam through the water and looked over at Aquaman smiling.

"Thank you so much!" she smiled as she made a sharp turn towards him, but then winced and let out a small yelp of pain.

"Minnow, take a deep breath." Aquaman said gently as he held the girl. "we'll continue swimming tomorrow, but you should rest some more." He informed, and the girl nodded, feeling the pain swell up from her wound.

She wasn't fully healed from her injury.

Aquaman helped Athena out of the ocean and she walked onto shore. She was lucky none of her stitches didn't come undone, but it was still painful.

"Was I doing okay?" Athena inquired, looking over at Aquaman and he nodded.

"You were doing great. With some more practice I'm sure it will look as if you were living in the water." He smiled, and Athena hugged the man, lifting him off his feet.

She then placed him down and inquired,

"Can I stay out here for a little bit longer?" Aquaman nodded.

"Alright. Stay safe." He smiled, giving her a hug, then headed back into Mt. Justice, most likely to head back to the Watch Tower.

Athena walked over to the rocks near the shore and laid out on them, sunning herself. She _loved_ the sun, and Conner had told her it was most likely because the sun was what gave Kryptonians strength. Since the girl was part Kryptonian, that made some sense.

"Hello, Young Goddess." A voice stated and Athena jumped in surprise. She turned to see Ra's Al Ghul sitting calmly on one of the rocks.

"Get away!" Athena exclaimed, standing to her feet. However, instead of running, she put her fists up, ready to fight.

"I will due time. I simply want to talk." He informed calmly, but Athena looked at him skeptically.

"You kidnapped me." she stated, and the man nodded.

"Indeed I did. However, if I did so again, there would be little for me to gain. You clearly are more powerful than I thought, and if I tried kidnapping you again, it would not be in my favor." Athena cocked her head to the side.

"Then why are you here?" she inquired.

"I merely want to talk." Ra's said calmly.

"How do I know you're not planning on taking me again?" Athena questioned, crossing her arms.

"If I wanted to kidnap you again, then it would have already happened." Ra's informed honestly. "Now, would you sit so I may start a civil conversation with you?"

Athena's eyes stayed locked on him, as she slowly sat on the rock across from the man.

"First off, Cadmus is no longer interested in you. They have realized that you are not something they need to worry themselves over. They have other matters to attend." He informed, and Athena smiled slightly. It was nice to know Cadmus was off her back.

"However, that doesn't mean you are completely safe. The minute you become more public as a hero, you are going to have many people who will want you to join them. Including me."

"Wait." Athena stated. "Hero? Me a hero?"

"Well, yes. I assumed that you will want to be like your parents and dawn a hero identity and save people." Ra's explained, but then raised an eyebrow. "You don't plan to use your abilities?" Ra's inquired.

Athena pause for a moment.

"I haven't really thought about it." She whispered. "I don't know if I'd be a good hero. The only people I have ever saved were Ramon and Superman." Athena informed.

"Not many people can say that they have saved Superman's life." Ra's stated, then looked at her curiously. "Who is Ramon?" Athena looked at the man with a glare, her hands balling up into fists.

"Nobody. He's nobody. If you _dare_ try to find him, I'll…"

"Do what you did to Dr. Milo?" Ra's inquired calmly, cutting her off, and Athena was silent. "I must say, you were rather violent with him. I honestly didn't think you had it in you to injure him like you did. Doctors aren't sure if he will ever be able to use his arms again." Ra's informed.

"Good." Athena whispered, and this made Ra's smile.

"You do not regret what you did to him?" he questioned, and Athena nodded.

"I only did to him as he did to me. an eye for an eye." She shook her head. "He deserved it. If I had more time, I'd hook wires up and stick them in his head. I would do _everything_ he did to me. And I'd smile the entire time, too."

Ra's smiled even wider. He enjoyed what was coming out of the girl's mouth.

"Isn't that revenge?" he inquired, and Athena nodded.

"It felt good. I know I'm not supposed to enjoy revenge, but I did. And I'd do it again." She informed seriously.

"I think you should become a hero." Ra's said. "Not that you probably care what I think, but I have been around for quite a while, and I can tell that you would definitely be a powerful hero." He informed.

Athena looked down at the waves lapping against the rocks, still unsure. She was silent, not answering him.

"Just remember, Young Goddess, if anything happens, you can always come to me. My doors will forever be open to give you shelter."

Athena shook her head.

"I don't trust you." She stated, but as she looked over at the man, he was gone.

"Me? A hero?" she whispered, shaking her head. "I may have power, but I don't want to abuse it."

~*~*~*~*~*~In Gotham~*~*~*~*~*~

"So he thinks you should become a hero?" Ramon inquired, and Athena nodded as she watched him draw.

"Yes." She answered.

"I hate to say that I agree with him, but I kinda do." Ramon sighed, looking over at Athena. "You can do amazing things. You saved my life _and_ Superman's. I'm not saying you should start now or anything, but maybe in the future or something." Ramon shrugged.

"Maybe." Athena whispered. She then looked at Ramon's picture.

"What are you drawing?"

"I don't know. Some sort of land." He informed. Athena could see in his picture a beautiful waterfall along with a dense jungle surrounding it.

"You mean you never saw this place before?" Athena inquired, and Ramon shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess. I just made it up." He informed, and Athena smiled.

"If you ever found a place like this, would you take me there?" Athena inquired, and Ramon smiled.

"I'd take you anywhere you wanted."

~*~*~*~*~*~At Wayne Manor~*~*~*~*~*~

As Athena walked into Wayne Manor, her eyes widened at the site of _everyone_. Conner, Dick, Blue Beetle, Mal, Bumblebee, M'gann, Beast Boy, Batgirl, Robin, Cassie, Impulse, even La'gaan. And her "parents" were there as well. All of them.

"Happy Anniversary!" they exclaimed, and Conner quickly picked her up.

"Anniversary?" Athena inquired, and everyone smiled at her.

"Athena, this day one year ago, I found you in the incinerator room." Conner informed, and Athena's eyes widened.

"A year? Wow." She whispered.

"This a time to celebrate!" Wonder Woman exclaimed, and Alfred baked food for everyone, and the team talked and laughed together.

The celebration felt like almost like a birthday party.

And then came something Athena wasn't exactly expecting.

Presents.

Besides Ralph, she was never given anything else as a present. It felt very strange to her. But a good strange.

Athena was grateful for the Elvis CD's and posters she got from the team at Mt. Justice. They knew of her obsession with the man so Athena got many Elvis related things.

Then came the presents from the league.

Superman went first, handing her a box, which she opened to reveal a blue knitted scarf.

"Ma made it for you. I'll introduce you to her later." He informed with a small smile, and Athena smiled back.

"It's beautiful. Thank you."

Martian Manhunter handed her a package and Athena smiled widely when she opened it.

Oreos. Athena's favorite cookie.

"How'd you know I liked these?" Athena inquired, and the Martian grinned.

"Because they are my favorite as well."

Green Lantern handed her the next present. A basketball.

"Maybe we could shoot some hoops later on." He smiled, and Athena smiled back.

Aquaman handed Athena the next present. It was a _turtle _in a small box. The animal was missing a leg, but Athena seemed to become attached to it immediately.

"I found her in a stream nearby, and I figured she would enjoy your company." He smiled, and Athena looked at the turtle with love.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"Here, take mine." Black Canary smiled, handing Athena a box. Inside was a black leather jacket. The fit was a little big on her, but she'd grow into it.

"Thank you." Athena smiled, and Wonder Woman handed Athena her gift afterwards.

Athena's eyes widened at the two silver bracelets, and then looked up at Wonder Woman who smiled at her.

"I heard you have a knack for jumping in front of bullets." She informed. "Perhaps you could learn how to deflect them instead."

"Thank you." Athena whispered, still in shock that Wonder Woman would give her such a thing.

Bruce then handed the girl his present. Once again, Athena was speechless.

It was a _belt_. But not just a plain belt, but a belt that looked like the one he wore as Batman.

"If you ever want to use it, I'd be happy to help you." He informed.

"You mean…"

"You don't have to now. But I'm sure the team in Mt. Justice could always use extra power." Bruce informed.

"Power." Athena whispered. She was used to hearing the word in her name prior to her new family. She played with the word alone in her mind, but then coupled it with something. She wasn't Project Power. She wasn't a project, she was a _girl_.

"Power Girl." She said to herself. That sounded like a name she could get used to.

**~Not the End, but The Beginning~**


	29. Ending Author's Note

** Hello everyone!**

** Laces here with a little author's note for the story. **

** Okay, so, this story kinda surprised me cuz I started writing it cuz I was bored then BOOM, a lot of people seemed to like it. **

** So, with that said, I wasn't expecting it to get so far in the beginning, meaning I haven't had much time to formulate a really solid sequel. **

** I mean, I have been trouble shooting ideas. All I can really say for sure are several things.**

**1. It will take place when Athena is about 16 or 17**

**2. There will be two new characters named Paige and Jenson**

**3. Athena still **_**loves**_** music**

**4. There will be Ramon**

**5. She will be more in costume as Power Girl (On that note, I know Power Girl is an actual character in the comics, however she has yet to appear in Young Justice, and since this takes place on a separate earth then what we are used to, I guess she could be this Earth's Power girl. Why not?)**

**6. She will not wear the Power Girl costume, y'know, the one with the boob window. (no way Bats would let her leave the house in a little swim suit with a boob window get-up.)**

**7. Athena does not want to be "evil" but it scares her how she gets enjoyment from hurting people who deserve it. She does not kill, but she enjoys hurting criminals and she doesn't like the enjoyment.**

**So yeah. Fun stuff but I only got character development things down, not legit plot which is kinda important. *sighs* so whoever has any ideas what they want to see, feel free to tell me. **

** Also, A-Bookworm-Named-Steph has told me that they wanted to see some SuperPaPa moments. So, if you want some Super Papa moments, please tell me and I'll try to get on some one-shots. **

**So time for thank yous! :)**

** (this is gonna take a while)**

** Bandrose111- thank you for liking my stories and for reading my Poofer stuff. I hope to do more stuff with the character **

** Fman13- don't be sad all things come to an end and thank you**

** HaileyHarley- you are my favorite stalker :) **

** KawaiiNerdsInc- thank you!**

** Dextra2- Cool**

** MagicalCraving- Thank you so much! Also… what are you magically craving? **

** Theshadowwithinyoursoul- Thank you for being so supportive and awesome! **

** SakuraPheonix13- thank you for being so enthusiastic! It always makes me smile.**

** OrionRedde- [insert sound of squealing joy and happiness]**

** IxHunnaxI- I kinda had to end it… but I'm planning to make a sequel. **

** Lolmak- thank you and as in continued in another story **

** Shan123- THANK YOU!**

** Imaninja41- LUV YA!**

** Mini ninja 132- Thanks :) I'll try to make the sequel A.S.A.P**

** Obiwan1022- thank you for your nice words and your support :) **

** XxtheDarknessesChildxX- thank you!**

** A-Bookworm-Named-Steph- I'm working on that SuperPaPa thing, and also thank you so much for your long message. I like long messages. They make me smile.**

** YJ and HG Rocks- thank you, and quick question… do you mean Ace the dog? Or… ?**

** KatieLoom- thank you :)**

** Lunabelle- thank you for being so sweet **

** Topper- love you girl! Trololol!**

** Girloveswaffles5- thank you for your support! :)**

** Scotty1609- thank you for being amazing and awesome**

** CareBearCara101- thank you :)**

** Princess of unicorns- thank you!**

** BookwormStrawberry- thank you for your nice-ness and support**

** Funni neko- thank you and I love your icon :)**

** Number1Batgirl- thank you!**

** xXRandomnessXx- thank you for your long reviews :)**

** short stock- I LOVE YOU!**

** CrazykittensAtemyHOMEWORK- thanks :) Bye.**

** Ruler of All Sporks- I don't know you, but I love you. I love your reviews, I love your username, and I love your nick name for Athena ('Thena) which **_**will**_** be used in the sequel.**

** Ooo-shiny- thank you for your support :)**

** RidingtheRoughWaters- thank you! :)**

** Carcrafter7- thank you!**

** Smile- I did not mean to offend you. I was drawling from personal experience of the religion snobby people thing. I know it's not just Catholics due to the fact that my mom was raised Catholic, my one best friend is Catholic, and Ramon is Catholic as well. However, there are several people (not naming names) who were Catholics who talked to me like the three girls did to Athena, so it was easier for me to write them as Catholic instead of something else. **

** Just eating toast- love your name and thank you! :)**

** Roguelover321- thank you! :)**

** Tomboys rule girly girls suck- thank you :)**

** PixieDemon1029- thank you!**

** MiuHatake- thank you :)**

** ZoeyIsUp2NoGood- thank you!**

** LiveLoveMusic20- thank you so much! :)**

** Musicgal100189- thank you for your support and colorful vocabulary :)**

** LA CUPCAKE THE AWESOME- thank you :)**

** JasmineNightheart- thank you for your kindness! :)**

** Jake111- thank you for your ideas! :) **

** Archergirlxo- thank you!**

** TeenPool- thank you!**

** TheGreenScar- thank you and I'm sorry I made your heart melt :)**

** Cookie- love you baby girl!**

** TheBaneOfOlympus91- thank you! And thank you for talking to me :)**

** Hybrid301- thank you :)**

** Sarah-Leigh-Black- thank you! :)**

** ArtistKat- thank you! :)**

** AnimeMinder- no problem**

** ThatOneDiabeticGirl- thank you! :)**

** I.C.2014- thank you for your many questions :)**

** Abbie Brown- thanks for being a Grammar Nazi :)**

** Goddess. of. Souls- thank you!**

** Lost-My-Shoes- love that name, and thank you :)**

**Whew! There's a lot of you! Thank you all! :)**

** So… yeah this has been the story and the author's note. I hope you guys enjoyed it and please message me about SuperPaPa and what you want to see in the Sequel :)**

**Also, I have a writing tumblr that I'm also slowly posting this story on. There's other stuff up on there too, so if you wanna check it out, it's:**

** Livyandindiraandfriends. Tumblr. Com**

**So… thank you!**

** L.L.A.P**

**~Laces**


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